The urological aspects of the tethered cord syndrome were investigated in 15 adults. Impaired detrusor contractility was the most common among the urological symptoms and signs (73 per cent of the patients). Bladder dysfunction was confirmed urodynamically in 93 per cent of the patients and detrusor areflexia was predominant in 60 per cent. Pathological grades were proposed to classify the severity of the tethered cord syndrome. While restoration of bladder function was satisfactory in 67 per cent of the patients postoperatively, the over-all result was less (60 per cent). Patients with sensory motor paralysis of the bladder, symptoms more than 3 years in duration, cutaneous stigmas or a high pathological grade of the syndrome will not benefit from an operation. We conclude that neurogenic bladder secondary to the tethered cord syndrome is curable provided that the underlying pathological condition is recognized properly and an operation is performed early.
We present a polarimetric map of a 20 ′ ×20 ′ area toward the Galactic center. The polarization of point sources has been measured in the J, H, and K S bands using the near-infrared polarimetric camera SIRPOL on the 1.4 m telescope IRSF. One percent or better accuracy of polarization degree is achieved for sources with J < 14.5, H < 13.5, and K S < 12.0. Comparing the Stokes parameters between high extinction stars and relatively low extinction ones, we have obtained a polarization originating from magnetically aligned dust grains at the central region of our Galaxy of at most 1−2 kpc. The distribution of the position angles shows a peak at ∼20 • , nearly parallel to the Galactic plane, suggesting a toroidal magnetic configuration. The derived direction of the magnetic field is in good agreement with that obtained from far-infrared/submillimeter observations, which detect polarized thermal emission from dust in the molecular clouds at the Galactic center. Our results show that by subtracting foreground components, near-infrared polarimetry allows investigation of the magnetic field structure at the Galactic center.
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