title: [A painful occipital mass revealing a posterior encephalocele].
abstract: Encephalocele is a congenital malformation caused by a neural tube defect during embryonic development. We report a case of posterior encephalocele in a 7-month-old infant with a painful occipital mass known since birth. Pathological examination of the mass showed different mature tissues derived from the brain and its coverings (e.g., neuroglia, ependymal canals and clusters of meningothelial cells). A diagnosis of encephalocele was made. The different forms of neural tube defect will be briefly discussed, especially the "aborted" forms (e.g., non-specific midline mass lesion or angioma) that the pathologist may encounter in his/her daily practice.
authors.affiliation: Département de pathologie cellulaire et tissulaire, CHU d'Angers, 4, rue Larrey, 49933 Angers, France.
authors.forename: Sarah
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Meunier
authors.affiliation: Département de pathologie cellulaire et tissulaire, CHU d'Angers, 4, rue Larrey, 49933 Angers, France.
authors.forename: Sophie
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Michalak
authors.affiliation: Département de pathologie cellulaire et tissulaire, CHU d'Angers, 4, rue Larrey, 49933 Angers, France.
authors.forename: Julien
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Chaigneau
authors.affiliation: Département de neurochirurgie, CHU d'Angers, 4, rue Larrey, 49933 Angers, France.
authors.forename: Philippe
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Mercier
authors.affiliation: Département de pathologie cellulaire et tissulaire, CHU d'Angers, 4, rue Larrey, 49933 Angers, France. Electronic address: rousseau_a@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Audrey
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rousseau
mesh_terms: D004677:Encephalocele / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery; D004804:Eosinophils / Q000473:pathology; D004817:Epidermis / Q000473:pathology; D005260:Female; D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein / Q000032:analysis; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008279:Magnetic Resonance Imaging; D009436:Neural Tube Defects / Q000145:classification; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000737:chemistry / Q000473:pathology; D014463:Ultrasonography
chemical_list: D005904:Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein
keywords: Anomalie de la ligne médiane; Dysraphism; Dysraphisme; Défaut de fermeture du tube neural; Embryologie; Embryology; Encéphalocèle postérieure; Midline defect; Neural tube defect; Posterior encephalocele; Spina bifida