A boy was born with a patch of hair over the spine with a dimple at its cranial aspect (Fig. 1). The pediatrician assured the parents that the hair would eventually fall out and the dimple was harmless. Later on, parents visited another physician for the toddler's constipation and urinary tract infections, who recognized significance of hairy patch at sacrum. The magnetic resonance imaging (MRI...

Terminal myelocystocele is a rare spinal dysraphism that present as lumbosacral mass. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is the modality of choice for preoperative diagnosis. A 2.5 months old female baby presented with lumbosacral skin covered mass. There were no associated neurological deficits. MRI of the lesion suggested two cysts, one of which was continuous with the central canal of the spin...

Spina Bifida occulta usually presents with some cutaneous stigmata e.g. hair patch, sinus, lipoma, hyperpigmented skin and very rarely a congenital tail. A congenital tail may and may not be associated with spina bifida occulta and tethered cord. A four month old male child presented with congenital tail which was associated with spinal dysraphism and caused tethering of the cord itself. The ta...

We describe three cases (one male and two females) of faun tail nevi, which is one of the most important cutaneous marker of spinal dysraphism. One of the patients presented with acro-osteolysis leading to auto amputation of the toes of the left foot, which required operative intervention. This lays stress on the early recognition of lumbar paraspinal skin lesions and early treatment to avoid i...

Intramedullary epidermoid cysts of the spinal cord are rare tumours, especially those not associated with spinal dysraphism. Around 60 cases have been reported in the literature. Of these, only 10 cases have had magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies. Here, we report a case of isolated intramedullary epidermoid tumour at D2-D3 level. The etiology, pathology, clinical features, MRI characteris...

The most common, primary referrals to a pediatric neurosurgeon's office are the evaluation and management of the child with a large head (to rule out hydrocephalus and other space occupying lesions) a mishappen head (to rule out various forms of craniosynostosis), or some form of congenital spinal abnormality (spinal dysraphism). The authors discuss the pathogenesis and clinical features of the...