Teratoma in Human Tail Lipoma

Abstract

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.

Human Tail and Myelomeningocele

“…The present case could support the above suspicion that the so-called human tail presented with spinal dysraphism is only an appendage, not a true human tail. Besides, the cartilaginous tissue in this caudal appendage also supports the hypothesis of abnormal development of the mesoderm induced by the dorsal neural tube [15, 16]. …”

Tethered Spinal Cord with Double Spinal Lipomas

“…On the other hand, Catala (9) suggested another hypothesis, abnormal development of dorsal mesoderm with multi-potent cells, which overcomes the limitations of the above two theories by pointing out that development of the dorsal mesoderm is regulated by different molecular biologic controls than the rest of the somites. Catala's hypothesis of multi-potent cells was supported clinically by the presence of development of a teratoma from the spinal lipoma (25). Classically, we expect that both the premature dysjunction mechanism and maldegeneration processes of the caudal cell mass in secondary neurulation were coincidentally involved in different embryonic periods, resulting in two different isolated types of spinal lipoma (24).…”

Spectrum of human tails: A report of six cases

“…[7] Teratoma in the human tail has also been reported. [8] In a review series of 48 skin-covered lumbosacral masses, 25% had lumbosacral and sacrococcygeal teratomas. [9] In our series, we had only one patient with tail in sacrococcygeal teratoma.…”