Why is Spina Bifida most common in the lumbo-sacral region of the spinal cord?

[genessadrianne]

Hi everyone! :)

I have a question concerning the area that Spina Bifida affects. I understand from research that out of the entire spinal cord the lumbo-sacral region is the most common area that is affected, but does anyone know why this is so?

Thank you, in advance, for the help!

[Barb]

I am going to take a complete shot in the dark here with this guess but I am thinking that it may be because the higher the opening the more involved the disability is. I wonder if just more babies survive this with a lower level. Meaning that it probably occurs as often but those pregnancies tend to result in miscarriages more.

[eng188]

That seems to make sense. I'm a T2 myself, and people are always pretty amazed. It's supposed to be much more serious, but I have full feeling and use lofstrand crutches.

[Dodger67]

Another shot in the dark:
The spinal chord closes like a zipper from the top down. This means that the lumbo-sacral area is the last to close. As it is open longer than higher up there is more time for the process to go wrong.

[Dodger67]

Just remembered an interesting statistic (sorry can't remember where I heard/read it):
The higher the lesion, the higher the chance of miscarriage or early post-natal death. Babies with higher lesions simply don't survive as often as those with lower lesions.