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Coexistence of a human tail and congenital dermal sinus associated with lumbosacral lipoma

Child's Nervous System volume 25, Article number: 137 (2009) Cite this article

Abstract

Case report

We present a female baby with a human tail associated with congenital dermal sinus (CDS) at the caudal site of the tail. Magnetic resonance (MR) images with constructive interference in steady-state (CISS) sequencing clearly demonstrated a lumbosacral lipoma of caudal type, contiguous with the dermal sinus tract and not with the human tail. At 3 months old, the tail was surgically removed. The dermal sinus tract and contiguous lipoma were also resected, and untethering of the spinal cord was performed. Although both the human tail and CDS are frequently associated with spina bifida occulta, coexistence of the tail and CDS is exceedingly rare. CISS-MRI is useful for demonstrating the precise anatomical relationship between these complicated pathologies.

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Affiliations

  1. Department of Neurosurgery, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, 3-1-1 Maidashi, Higashi-ku, Fukuoka, 812-8582, Japan

    Kazuhiro Samura, Takato Morioka, Kimiaki Hashiguchi, Fumiaki Yoshida, Yasushi Miyagi & Tomio Sasaki

  2. Department of Clinical Radiology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

    Takashi Yoshiura

  3. Department of Neuropathology, Graduate School of Medical Sciences, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

    Satoshi O. Suzuki

  4. Division of Digital Patient, Digital Medicine Initiative, Kyushu University, Fukuoka, Japan

    Yasushi Miyagi

Authors
  1. Kazuhiro Samura
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  2. Takato Morioka
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  3. Kimiaki Hashiguchi
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  4. Fumiaki Yoshida
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  5. Yasushi Miyagi
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  6. Takashi Yoshiura
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  7. Satoshi O. Suzuki
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  8. Tomio Sasaki
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Takato Morioka.

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Samura, K., Morioka, T., Hashiguchi, K. et al. Coexistence of a human tail and congenital dermal sinus associated with lumbosacral lipoma. Childs Nerv Syst 25, 137 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00381-008-0693-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00381-008-0693-6

Keywords

  • Human tail
  • Congenital dermal sinus
  • Lumbosacral lipoma