Spinal epidermoid cyst and cauda equina syndrome in a teenage girl.
A sixteen year old girl presented with a four year history of hip pain followed subsequently by back pain radiating down her left leg, progressive urgency of micturition, urinary incontinence, a feeling of bladder fullness and incomplete bladder emptying, faecal impaction and finally, numbness in both of her buttocks. A diagnosis of Cauda Equina Syndrome was suspected on the history and the clinical examination. A plain X-ray of her lumbar spine revealed evidence of a slow growing mass within the vertebral canal at the level of L3. A Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) scan confirmed an intradural space occupying lesion at the same level. This lesion was surgically removed and histological examination revealed a benign epidermoid cyst.
Department of Neurosurgery, Beaumont Hospital, Dublin.
D P
DP
O'Brien
J
J
Singh
P S
PS
Dias
D000293:Adolescent; D002420:Cauda Equina; D004814:Epidermal Cyst / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009408:Nerve Compression Syndromes / Q000209:etiology*; D013122:Spinal Diseases / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis*