A Gelatinous Human Tail With Lipomyelocele

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Abstract

We report a female infant who presented with a tail appendage bearing a gelatinous tip and an associated lipomyelocele. Magnetic resonance images revealed the presence of spina bifida and a tract in continuity from the tail to the conus medullaris. The tail was surgically removed. A human tail may be associated with underlying spinal dysraphism. Magnetic resonance or computed tomographic imaging is required in such cases for complete evaluation. This is the first case report of gelatinous-tip human tail.

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Human tails and pseudotails.

Anh H. Dao, Martin Netsky (1984)

A case of a tail in a 2-week-old infant is reported, and findings from a review of 33 previously reported cases of true tails and pseudotails are summarized. The true, or persistent, vestigial tail of humans arises from the most distal remnant of the embryonic tail. It contains adipose and connective tissue, central bundles of striated muscle, blood vessels, and nerves and is covered by skin. Bone, cartilage, notochord, and spinal cord are lacking. The true tail arises by retention of structures found normally in fetal development. It may be as long as 13 cm, can move and contract, and occurs twice as often in males as in females. A true tail is easily removed surgically, without residual effects. It is rarely familial. Pseudotails are varied lesions having in common a lumbosacral protrusion and a superficial resemblance to persistent vestigial tails. The most frequent cause of a pseudotail in a series of ten cases obtained from the literature was an anomalous prolongation of the coccygeal vertebrae. Additional lesions included two lipomas, and one each of teratoma, chondromegaly , glioma, and a thin, elongated parasitic fetus.

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The human tail: rare lesion with occult spinal dysraphism--a case report.

V. Sinha, U. Singh, H. Bagaria … (2008)

Human tail or tail-like caudal cutaneous appendage is a rare fingerlike, midline protrusion at the lumbosacrococcygeal region, often associated with occult spinal dysraphism. A 2-month-old male child presented here had a lumbosacral tail-like appendage with underlying spinal dysraphism without any appreciable neurological deficit. In contradiction to a previous report, true vestigial tails are not benign because they may be associated with underlying dysraphic state. About 50% of the cases were associated with either meningocele or spina bifida occulta. Management of such lesions must include complete neurological history and examination as well as magnetic resonance or computed tomographic imaging. After diagnosis, microsurgery should be performed if there is any intraspinal component to avoid any damage and neurological deficit.

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Human tail with noncontiguous intraspinal lipoma and spinal cord tethering: case report and embryologic discussion.

Daniel Donovan, Robert Pedersen (2016)

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. Copyright 2005 S. Karger AG, Basel.

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Author and article information

Journal

Title: Journal of Child Neurology

Abbreviated Title: J Child Neurol

Publisher: SAGE Publications

ISSN (Print): 0883-0738

ISSN (Electronic): 1708-8283

Publication date Created: December 21 2012

Publication date Created: January 2013

Publication date (Electronic): March 30 2012

Publication date (Print): January 2013

Volume: 28

Issue: 1

Pages: 124-127

Affiliations

[1 ]Department of Pediatrics, UMDNJ-RWJ Medical School, Robert Wood Johnson Place, New Brunswick, NJ, USA

[2 ]Department of Surgery, SUNY Downstate Medical Center, Brooklyn, NY, USA

Article

DOI: 10.1177/0883073812439436

PubMed ID: 22467742

SO-VID: 015b2a00-afcc-447d-a91a-269501fddf30

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http://journals.sagepub.com/page/policies/text-and-data-mining-license

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A Gelatinous Human Tail With Lipomyelocele : Case Report

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Most cited references 17

Human tails and pseudotails.

The human tail: rare lesion with occult spinal dysraphism--a case report.

Human tail with noncontiguous intraspinal lipoma and spinal cord tethering: case report and embryologic discussion.

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