Myelomeningocele and thick filum terminale with tethered cord appearing as a human tail

Chakrabortty, Shushovan; Oi, Shizuo; Yoshida, Yasuhisa; Yamada, Hiroshi; Yamaguchi, Michio; Tamaki, Norihiko; Matsumoto, Satoshi

doi:10.3171/jns.1993.78.6.0966

Cited by 39 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…The nonvertebrated part projects temporarily and then undergoes regression. The abnormal caudal structures in humans are classified as true tail, pseudotail and caudal appendage, which have been postulated by various authors and are unclear and confusing [1, 11,15,16,17]. However, the true tail can be explained as a failure of complete regression of the nonvertebrate part of the tail at 8 weeks of pregnancy [3, 18].…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The human tail is a rare congenital anomaly and is important primarily because it sometimes accompanies central nervous system anomalies, such as spinal dysraphism, lipoma and spinal cord tethering [1,2,3, 7,11,12,13]. During vertebral column formation in the human embryo after neurulation, the tail bud develops at the caudal end during 6 and 7 weeks of pregnancy.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Teratoma in Human Tail Lipoma

et al. 2005

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We report a case of a rare congenital teratoma that developed in a lipoma attached to a remnant human tail. A male newborn baby presented with a large, 3-cm mass with an open margin, which pedunculated from a tail attached to the midline skin of the coccygeal area. Magnetic resonance images demonstrated multiple sacral spinal bifida without cord tethering, and also showed neural roots and a lipoma and teratoma with peripheral homogeneous high density and internal low density on T₂- weighted images. Intraoperatively, we found and dissected two nerve roots from the filum terminale which extended into the mass. Pathologic examination of the mass revealed abnormal differentiation of respiratory epithelium and squamous cell metaplasia along the open margin of the mass, and mainly lipoma in the rest of the mass. We suggest that this case could support the hypothesis of transient teratomatous cells in the pathogenesis of the spina bifida with lumbosacral lipoma.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Teratoma in Human Tail Lipoma

et al. 2005

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“…In the literature, human tails with skin-covered myelomeningocele are rare; in fact, only 1 such case has been reported [2], although that was a myelomeningocele with a thick filum terminale and tethered cord resembling a human tail. Our present case is a skin-covered lumbar myelomeningocele with an appendage located on the mass.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Although certain authors have considered the human tail to be a benign stigma without any cord malformation [1], it is usually considered to be a marker of underlying intraspinal pathology of occult spinal dysraphism [2,3,4,5]. Reported presentations of spinal dysraphism have included spina bifida occulta, meningocele, lipoma or tethered spinal cord [4].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human Tail and Myelomeningocele

Lin

Chang²,

Tseng

et al. 2007

Pediatr Neurosurg

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The human tail is rarely reported and is usually associated with underlying spina bifida occulta. A male newborn presenting a caudal appendage (human tail) with skin-covered myelomeningocele and tethered cord is described. Surgical excision of the human tail and repair of the myelomeningocele were performed 3 days after birth. After the operation, the patient had an uneventful convalescence and received follow-up at our outpatient clinic without any neurological sequelae. To our knowledge, no similar case report exists in the literature. Like other skin-related lesions in the lumbosacral area, the present case of caudal appendage with myelomeningocele is only a cutaneous sign of underlying spinal dysraphism since the skin and nerve system are related by their similar ectodermal origin. After excision of the tail and repair of an underlying lesion, long-term follow-up of the neurological status is warranted.

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“…Human tails have been reported of various lengths (range 1–20 cm) and at various levels of the spine from the lower coccyx to the upper lumbar region [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15]. They may be in the midline or off to one side, and rarely is there a history of family members born with a tail.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Human Tail with Noncontiguous Intraspinal Lipoma and Spinal Cord Tethering:Case Report and Embryologic Discussion

Donovan

Pedersen²

2005

Pediatr Neurosurg

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Children born with a tail-like appendage have a rare malformation that is frequently associated with abnormalities of the spine and spinal cord. A contiguous fibrolipoma is usually seen extending from the subcutaneous portion of the tail into the inferior spinal cord, resulting in tethered cord syndrome. We present the case of a child born with a tail and intraspinal lipoma that were not contiguous with each other, and were separated by an intact layer of lumbosacral fascia. The tail and lipoma were removed and the spinal cord untethered, and the child is neurologically normal 2 years after surgery. The absence of a contiguous lipoma from the tail to the spinal cord suggests that this condition may be principally caused by a disorder of secondary neurulation and/or regression of the normal embryonic tail bud. The embryology of the lower spine is reviewed and possible etiologies discussed.

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Myelomeningocele and thick filum terminale with tethered cord appearing as a human tail

Cited by 39 publications

References 20 publications

Teratoma in Human Tail Lipoma

Teratoma in Human Tail Lipoma

Human Tail and Myelomeningocele

Human Tail with Noncontiguous Intraspinal Lipoma and Spinal Cord Tethering:Case Report and Embryologic Discussion

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