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Background: Congenital spinal lipomatous malformations (spinal lipomas, lipomyeloceles, and lipomyelomeningoceles) are closed neural tube defects over the lower back. Differentiation from some other closed neural tube defects in this region can be problematic for pathologists., Materials and Methods: This review is based on PubMed searches of the embryology, gross and histopathologic findings, and laboratory reporting requisites for retained medullary spinal cords, coccygeal medullary vestiges and cysts, myelocystoceles, true human vestigial tails, and pseudotails for comparison with congenital spinal lipomatous malformations., Results: Embryology, imaging, gross and histopathology of these closed neural tube lesions have different but overlapping features compared to congenital spinal lipomatous malformations, requiring context for diagnosis., Conclusion: The lipomyelocele spectrum and to some degree all of the malformations discussed, even though they may not share gross appearance, anatomic site, surgical approach, or prognosis, require clinical and histopathologic correlation for final diagnosis.

A pseudotail is a very rare, dermal appendage arising from the lumbosacral region with an association with spinal dysraphism. We report a case of a pseudotail in a healthy newborn female with sonographic imaging of a tethered cord and dermal sinus tract with MRI and surgical correlation., Competing Interests: Compliance with ethical standards Funding No funding was required or received for this case report. Conflict of interest The authors Clark and Davidson declare no conflict of interest. Ethical approval As a single case report, this article does not contain any studies with animal or human participants performed by any of the authors. This case has been approved for submission per the author’s Department of Clinical Investigation. Informed consent Informed consent was obtained from the parents of the infant prior to all surgical consultations.

Aims: The human tail is one of the most interesting and rare congenital malformations of neural tube defects. There are two types of tails known to originate from the distal remnant of the embryonic tail. The true human tail is a vestigial organ containing adipose tissue and other connective tissues without vertebrae. Pseudotails, which bear superficial resemblances to the true tail, may occur connected to an underlying pathology such as lipoma or teratoma and are more commonly observed in the lumbosacrococcygeal region. It is often accompanied by spina bifida. Case presentation: The first patient was a 19-month-old baby boy born with a 6 cm tail at the midline. A low-lying conus was detected on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Unlike the others, the lipoma did not perform intraspinal invasion and is accompanied by spina bifida. The second patient was a 4-month-old baby boy born with a 2 cm tail and dermal sinus at the lateral. MRI showed an intraspinal lipoma and a low-lying conus. The third patient was a 20-year-old male with a 1 cm tail at the midline. Intraspinal lipoma and low conus were seen on MRI. Conclusions: Radiological evaluation is important in human tail cases. An MRI study should be performed to investigate the spinal pathologies of the lipoma accompanying the pseudotail and to determine if there is a nerve invasion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]