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Retained medullary cord with sacral subcutaneous meningocele and congenital dermal sinus

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Abstract

Background

A retained medullary cord (RMC) is a rare closed spinal dysraphism with a robust elongated cord-like structure extending continuously from the conus medullaris to the dural cul-de-sac that is caused by late arrest of secondary neurulation. Five patients with RMC extending to an associated sacral subcutaneous meningocele have been reported.

Case presentation

We report an additional patient with RMC, in whom a congenital dermal sinus (CDS) was found in the caudal portion of the RMC. At the age of 3 days, the patient underwent surgery consisting of meningocele excision and cord untethering, and CDS was noted histologically in the proximal cut end of the RMC. During a second surgery at the age of 5 months, after determining the exact border of the nonfunctional RMC and the true conus by neurophysiological mapping, we removed the entire length of the remnant RMC, including newly developed epidermoid cysts in the CDS.

Conclusion

Although the exact pathoembryogenesis of concurrent RMC and CDS is unknown, an associated subcutaneous meningocele, caused by failure of primary neurulation, could be involved. Surgeons should be aware of the possibility of the coexistence of CDS when dealing with RMCs that extend out to the extradural space.

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Acknowledgments

We thank Dr. Naoko Matsumoto, Department of Neonatology, Kitakyushu Municipal Medical Center, and Dr. Nobuko Kawamura, Department of Radiology, Fukuoka Children’s Hospital, for supporting our study. We thank Jane Charbonneau, DVM, from Edanz Group (www.edanzediting.com/ac) for editing a draft of this manuscript.

Funding

This work was partly supported by the Research Foundation of Fukuoka Children’s Hospital.

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Correspondence to Takato Morioka.

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Informed consent was obtained from the family of the infant described in this report.

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Morioka, T., Murakami, N., Kanata, A. et al. Retained medullary cord with sacral subcutaneous meningocele and congenital dermal sinus. Childs Nerv Syst 36, 423–427 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00381-019-04301-1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00381-019-04301-1

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