Spinal cord injuries at birth: a multicenter review of nine cases

To report a multicenter study of nine cases of children presenting with a birth-related spinal injury.

The medical charts of nine patients identified by a questionnaire sent to the members of the French Society of Pediatric Orthopedics (SOFOP) were reviewed.

The pregnancy was uneventful in all cases. The fetal presentation was cephalic in three cases, a breech presentation in four cases, and a face presentation in two cases. The lesion involved the cervical spine in six cases. Three patients presenting upper cervical injuries died before the age of six years. The six remaining patients experienced no neurological improvement.

These rare conditions occur during difficult deliveries with abnormal presentations, the most common being a breech presentation with entrapment of the fetal head. In a child with hypotonia, flaccid quadriplegia or high thoracic paraplegia after a difficult delivery, a spinal cord injury must be suspected and plain radiographs and MRI must be performed.