Mirror movement associated with neural tube defects

Case report

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Authors: Yasir Andrabi, Farideh Nejat, Mostafa El Khashab, Mohammad Reza Ashrafi

Published Date September 2008 Volume 2008:4(6) Pages 1273 - 1276

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2147/NDT.S3199

Yasir Andrabi¹, Farideh Nejat¹, Mostafa El Khashab², Mohammad Reza Ashrafi³

¹Department of Neurosurgery; ²Department of Neurosurgery, New Jersey, USA;³Department of Pediatric Neurology, Children’s Medical Center, Medical Sciences/University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran

Objective: Association of mirror movements with special kinds of neural tube defects, particularly cranial dermal sinus and cervical myelomeningocele, is extremely rare. We have tried to explain the probable pathophysiology underlying this rare condition.

Clinical presentation: Two cases are presented. Case 1: A right-handed 3-year-old boy brought to the outpatient clinic for evaluation of mirror movement had been operated on at 10 days of age to repair a cervical myelomeningocele. At examination, mirror movements were observed on both sides. Case 2: A right-handed 7-year-old boy referred for vertigo and occasional vomiting since 3 months of age. The mirror movements were present in the upper extremities, and reportedly had existed since early childhood. Brain magnetic resonance imaging disclosed the dermal sinus, tract, and midline dermoid tumor.

Conclusion: To describe a meaningful association between mirror movements and congenital abnormalities in 2 cases reported here, we propose development of an abnormality in the cervical spinal cord (case 1) and cervicomedullary junction (case 2) associated with gross anomalies in the affected areas.

Keywords: cervical myelomeningocele, mirror movement, occipital dermal sinus

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