Tethered Cord Syndrome

This is really something you should discuss directly with your daughter's doctor.  If you have questions about the diagnosis, that is the best person to give you advice.  In a nutshell:  under normal circumstances, the spinal cord moves freely within the spinal column.  If the cord is "tethered", it is attached in some way at the base of the spine so that as the child grows, the spinal cord is stretched.  This stretching can lead to permanent nerve damage in the lower extremities, loss of bowel and bladder control, and paralysis or difficulty walking.  It is suspected if a child has a sacral dimple (an indentation right above the bum crack).  At 13 months, it is probably too early to see any symptoms of this, and there really aren't any "pictures" to look at.  The diagnosis is made with an MRI.  At your daughter's young age, an MRI has to be done under general anesthesia so that she doesn't move.  That is probably why your doctor wants to watch and observe.  He or she would rather not put your daughter through an MRI under general anesthesia unless absolutely necessary.  But again, if you have questions about your child's health, the best person to ask is her pediatrician.

my son had this as a result of being born with congenital scoliosis. because of this he had numerous MRIs and x-rays from infancy - his tethered cord was diagnosed via MRI at 4 months and had surgery for its release at 9 months. MRI is the only way to diagnose, and you want to get surgery before any symptoms set in because by the symptoms are not reversible, and they are severe (as described by the other poster below). we had our surgery done by Dr. Peter Sun at Children's Hospital Oakland - I would speak to your pediatrician about getting a referral to the neurosurgery group there (or if you have PPO, make an appointment directly) just to get an opinion. what made your doctor suspect tethered cord? did he see signs like a dimple in the lower back or big toes that are curled inward? I have had a couple of friends whose kids were suspected to have it (around 1 year of age) based on these signs but after an MRI had the peace of mind that it wasn't a tethered cord. Dr. Sun is a great surgeon. my son recovered remarkably - was in the hospital for 5 days, started to crawl right before surgery and was back to crawling when he got home. best of luck to you and I hope you will get some quick answer for your questions!