Myelomeningocele and thick filum terminale with tethered cord appearing as a human tail

1993 ◽  
Vol 78 (6) ◽  
pp. 966-969 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shushovan Chakrabortty ◽  
Shizuo Oi ◽  
Yasuhisa Yoshida ◽  
Hiroshi Yamada ◽  
Michio Yamaguchi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Unusual Case ◽  
Spinal Dysraphism ◽  
Tethered Cord ◽  
Tethered Spinal Cord ◽  
Filum Terminale ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
External Appearance ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Human Tail ◽  
Fine Print

✓ Tail-like caudal appendages may be associated with spinal dysraphism, particularly with spinal lipomas or lipomyelomeningoceles. An unusual case is presented of a patient with a myelomeningocele and a thick filum terminale with tethered spinal cord, which presented with the external appearance of a human tail. A review of the literature reveals that human tails may be associated with dysraphic conditions. Extensive neuroradiological examinations should be performed for all such cases of apparent tails.

Circumferential fracture of the skull base causing craniocervical dislocation

2002 ◽  
Vol 97 (1) ◽  
pp. 118-122 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ganesh Rao ◽  
Adam S. Arthur ◽  
Ronald I. Apfelbaum
Keyword(s):  
High Speed ◽  
Unusual Case ◽  
Motor Vehicle ◽  
Neurological Impairment ◽  
Craniocervical Junction ◽  
Motor Vehicle Accidents ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Vehicle Accidents ◽  
Fine Print

✓ Fractures of the craniocervical junction are common in victims of high-speed motor vehicle accidents; indeed, injury to this area is often fatal. The authors present the unusual case of a young woman who sustained a circumferential fracture of the craniocervical junction. Despite significant trauma to this area, she suffered remarkably minor neurological impairment and made an excellent recovery. Her injuries, treatment, and outcome, as well as a review of the literature with regard to injuries at the craniocervical junction, are discussed.

The human tail: a benign stigma

1985 ◽  
Vol 63 (3) ◽  
pp. 461-462 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roberto Spiegelmann ◽  
Edgardo Schinder ◽  
Mordejai Mintz ◽  
Alexander Blakstein
Keyword(s):  
English Literature ◽  
Pathological Features ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Benign Condition ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Pathological Characteristics ◽  
Human Tail ◽  
Fine Print

✓ Thirty-three cases of true human tails have been reported in the modern English literature. A new case is described and its radiological and pathological features are presented. A review of the literature and analysis of the pathological characteristics of this interesting lumbosacral stigma indicate that the true human tail is a benign condition not associated with any underlying cord malformation.

Congenital tethered spinal cord syndrome in adults

1998 ◽  
Vol 88 (6) ◽  
pp. 958-961 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bermans J. Iskandar ◽  
Benjamin B. Fulmer ◽  
Mark N. Hadley ◽  
W. Jerry Oakes
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Tethered Cord ◽  
Tethered Cord Syndrome ◽  
Early Surgery ◽  
Split Cord Malformation ◽  
Tethered Spinal Cord ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Fine Print

Object. The management of tethered spinal cord syndrome with onset of symptomatology occurring in adulthood remains controversial, although the necessity of early surgery in the pediatric tethered cord syndrome population is well established. To ascertain the results of surgery in adult patients with this anomaly, the authors undertook a retrospective review of 34 cases. Methods. The authors studied the hospital records of 34 consecutive patients who presented in adulthood with tethered cord syndrome and conducted follow-up phone interviews with 28 of them. The population consisted of 12 men and 22 women, ranging in age from 18 to 70 years (mean 34 years). The most common presenting feature was pain, followed by weakness and incontinence. All patients underwent surgery. The most common operative findings were tight filum terminale, split cord malformation, and lipomyelomeningocele, paralleling those observed in pediatric studies. Long-term surgical results and patient outcome ratings were encouraging. After a mean clinical follow-up period of 4 years, significant improvement occurred in 22 of 27 patients presenting with pain, 13 of 27 patients with motor or sensory dysfunction, and 11 of 18 patients with bowel and bladder disturbance. In addition, telephone interviews were obtained after a period of 8.6 years. Twenty-two (79%) of 28 patients called the operation a long-term success; 21 (75%) of 28 patients believed that they had significant postoperative improvement (and not just stabilization) in pain and/or neurological function. Surgical complications were generally minor. Nineteen (86%) of 22 employed patients returned to work after surgery. Two (33%) of six patients who were not employed before surgery worked full time postoperatively. Only two of the 28 patients interviewed had received Workers' Compensation benefits; both of these had good outcomes and returned to work. Conclusions. Tethered spinal cord syndrome in adults is an uncommon entity that can become symptomatic. Although surgery in adults involves greater risk of neurological injury than in children, it is a low-risk procedure with encouraging results. Because neurological deficits are generally irreversible, early surgery is recommended.

Tethered cord syndrome from a choristoma of müllerian origin

1991 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 497-500 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael C. Molleston ◽  
Kevin A. Roth ◽  
Franz J. Wippold ◽  
Robert L. Grubb
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Tethered Cord ◽  
Tethered Cord Syndrome ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Lumbosacral Junction ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Fine Print

✓ The authors report a case of tethered cord syndrome due to a choristoma of müllerian origin located in the spinal cord at the lumbosacral junction. Two similar cases were found upon review of the literature. The embryology of this lesion is discussed.

Myolipoma in a tethered cord

2000 ◽  
Vol 92 (2) ◽  
pp. 214-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter G. Brown ◽  
Ellen G. Shaver
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Striated Muscle ◽  
Muscle Fibers ◽  
Tethered Cord ◽  
Tethered Spinal Cord ◽  
Rare Tumor ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Striated Muscle Fibers ◽  
Fine Print

✓ The intradural myolipoma is a very rare tumor, consisting of fully differentiated striated muscle fibers mingled with fat. Only four previous cases have been identified. The authors present a case in which this tumor was associated with a symptomatic tethered spinal cord in an 18-year-old man.

Intraspinal extradural myxopapillary ependymoma of the sacrum arising from the filum terminale externa

2000 ◽  
Vol 93 (2) ◽  
pp. 322-326 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daryl R. Fourney ◽  
Gregory N. Fuller ◽  
Ziya L. Gokaslan
Keyword(s):  
Soft Tissues ◽  
Bone Erosion ◽  
Ependymal Cells ◽  
Myxopapillary Ependymoma ◽  
Filum Terminale ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Sacrococcygeal Region ◽  
Sacral Canal ◽  
Fine Print

✓ Extradural ependymomas of the sacrococcygeal region are very rare, with most arising from the soft tissues of the presacral area or from the regions dorsal to the sacrum. In even rarer circumstances, the tumor may arise within the sacral canal, likely as a result of ependymal cells of the extradural filum terminale. Because of bone erosion caused by extension of the tumor into the pelvis or dorsal to the sacrum, a truly intraspinal extradural ependymoma in this region has until now never been clearly demonstrated. The authors present a patient with a myxopapillary ependymoma arising from the filum terminale externa in which there was no involvement of the intradural filum or extension outside the sacral canal. A review of the literature is presented, with emphasis on the pathogenesis and clinical management of these rare tumors.

Extensibility of the lumbar and sacral cord

1987 ◽  
Vol 66 (1) ◽  
pp. 116-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Satoshi Tani ◽  
Shokei Yamada ◽  
Robert S. Knighton
Keyword(s):  
Spinal Cord ◽  
Oxidative Metabolism ◽  
Tethered Cord ◽  
Underlying Mechanism ◽  
Tethered Cord Syndrome ◽  
Metabolic Dysfunction ◽  
Filum Terminale ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Symptoms And Signs ◽  
Fine Print

✓ Tethered spinal cord, or tethered cord syndrome, describes a disorder manifested by progressive motor and sensory deficit in the legs and by incontinence. Tethered cord syndrome occurs when the elongated spinal cord is anchored by a thick filum terminale or other pathological structures. The underlying mechanism is impairment of oxidative metabolism in the lumbosacral cord. The authors studied the extensibility of various parts of lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal segments in experimental animals and correlated this with the oxidative metabolism in these segments. The filum terminale possesses far greater extensibility than any spinal cord segments and functions as a buffer in preventing the cord from overstretching. The lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal segments elongate under traction only below the attachment of the lowest pair of dentate ligaments. The lower the cord segment, the greater the percentage of elongation in spite of limited elasticity of the cord tissue; this greater percentage of elongation of the spinal cord correlates with increasing impairment of the oxidative metabolism and more severe neurological deficit. These findings explain such symptoms and signs as motor and sensory deficits in the legs associated with the human tethered cord syndrome, and correspond with the high clinical incidence of incontinence. The lower spinal cord segments elongated promptly within 3 seconds after the start of traction. This implies that repeated acute hyperextension and hyperflexion, as occurs in humans, may accentuate oxidative metabolic changes that have already been caused by chronic cord tethering. The authors conclude that the elongation of the spinal cord under traction parallels the degree of metabolic dysfunction.

Progressive neurological deficits with benign intracerebral cysts

1986 ◽  
Vol 65 (5) ◽  
pp. 706-709 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yoko Nakasu ◽  
Jyoji Handa ◽  
Kazuyoshi Watanabe
Keyword(s):  
Histological Examination ◽  
Computerized Tomography ◽  
Cyst Wall ◽  
Benign Lesion ◽  
Ct Scanning ◽  
Neurological Deficits ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Ct Findings ◽  
Fine Print

✓ Two patients with benign intracerebral cysts are reported and a brief review of the literature is given. Although computerized tomography (CT) scanning is useful in detecting a variety of intracerebral cysts, the CT findings are not specific for any lesion. An exploratory operation with establishment of an adequate route of drainage and a histological examination of the cyst wall are mandatory in the management of patients with a progressive but benign lesion.

Brain-stem hemangioma calcificans

1983 ◽  
Vol 59 (1) ◽  
pp. 150-152 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michele Occhiogrosso ◽  
Aristide Carella ◽  
Paola D'aprile ◽  
Giacomo Vailati
Keyword(s):  
Brain Stem ◽  
Cavernous Hemangioma ◽  
Diagnosis And Treatment ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Fine Print

✓ A case of brain-stem hemangioma calcificans is described. The few cases reported in the literature prove the rarity of this tumor, which is considered a benign variant of cerebral cavernous hemangioma. Diagnosis and treatment of these tumors are briefly discussed with a review of the literature including 11 previous cases.

Delayed myelopathy secondary to retained intraspinal metallic fragment

1981 ◽  
Vol 55 (6) ◽  
pp. 979-982 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. Douglas Jones ◽  
Ronald E. Woosley
Keyword(s):  
Thoracic Spine ◽  
Stab Wound ◽  
Good Recovery ◽  
Review Of The Literature ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Stab Wounds ◽  
Fine Print

✓ The authors present a case of delayed myelopathy arising 8 years after a stab wound to the thoracic spine, with intradural retention of the knife tip. Following removal of the knife tip, the patient had a good recovery. A review of the literature documents eight additional cases of delayed myelopathy secondary to retained fragments from spinal stab wounds.

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