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Spinal epidermoid cyst and cauda equina syndrome in a teenage girl

Irish Journal of Medical Science volume 161, Article number: 675 (1992) Cite this article

Abstract

A sixteen year old girl presented with a four year history of hip pain followed subsequently by back pain radiating down her left leg, progressive urgency of micturition, urinary incontinence, a feeling of bladder fullness and incomplete bladder emptying, faecal impaction and finally, numbness in both of her buttocks. A diagnosis of Cauda Equina Syndrome was suspected on the history and the clinical examination. A plain X-ray of her lumbar spine revealed evidence of a slow growing mass within the vertebral canal at the level of L3. A Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan confirmed an intradural space occupying lesion at the same level. This lesion was surgically removed and histological examination revealed a benign epidermoid cyst.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin 9

    D. P. O’Brien, J. Singh & P. S. Dias

Authors
  1. D. P. O’Brien
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  2. J. Singh
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  3. P. S. Dias
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O’Brien, D.P., Singh, J. & Dias, P.S. Spinal epidermoid cyst and cauda equina syndrome in a teenage girl. I.J.M.S. 161, 675 (1992). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02942381

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02942381

Keywords

  • Spina Bifida
  • Dermoid Cyst
  • Epidermoid Cyst
  • Pilonidal Sinus
  • Cauda Equina Syndrome