Skeletal maturity in myelomeningocele.

A retrospective analysis of 90 patients (37 boys, 53 girls) with myelomeningocele was performed to determine the relationship between gender, presence of hydrocephalus, and level of myelomeningocele with skeletal maturity, as measured by bone age. Bone age was assessed using the Oxford method of skeletal maturity. A ventriculoperitoneal shunt was present in 56 of the 90 patients. The mean bone age was found to be significantly less in patients with a ventriculoperitoneal shunt. There was no difference in bone age when comparing gender or level of myelomeningocele. Identification of factors affecting skeletal maturity in patients with myelomeningocele is important in surgical planning for therapeutic operations such as osteotomies, timing of epiphysiodesis, and spinal fusion for scoliosis.