Giant Symptomatic Meningocele as a Delayed, Adult Complication of Lipomyelomeningocele

An expanding cohort of patients with spina bifida live well into adulthood and pose complex management challenges due to unique combinations of adult health issues overlying congenital problems.

We present a case of a 45-year-old woman with an expanding, disfiguring, painful lumbar meningocele more than 40 years after her only surgery as a 3-year-old child. A team of pediatric and adult neurosurgeons as well as plastic/reconstructive surgeons successfully performed surgery to obliterate the meningocele, with preservation of her baseline functional status, and no evidence of recurrence after more than 1 year of follow-up.

Symptomatic meningocele may present in a long-delayed fashion in adult patients with a history of spina bifida. Surgical treatment may provide symptomatic benefit.