Radiologic Features of a Tailgut Cyst in a Neonate: A Case Report

Abstract

A tailgut cyst, also known as retrorectal cystic hamartoma, is a rare congenital lesion which develops in the retrorectal or presacral space. For the most part, tailgut cysts are found in adult females, but also occur extremely rarely in neonates. To the best of our knowledge, only three cases have been reported to date (1 3). We report the radiologic findings of a tailgut cyst in a neonate, including the MR, CT and ultrasound results. Case Report A 23-day-old female infant was referred for an evaluation due to a palpable coccygeal mass which was present since birth. The infant developed to full-term and was delivered by a cesarean section without birth injury. Upon a physical examination, a movable, non-tender, round mass, measuring 1 2 cm, was palpable cephalad to the anus. An MRI of the spine showed a well-defined, multiloculated cystic mass between the rectum and coccyx, measuring 12 23 mm. The lesion was markedly hyperintense on T2-weighted images (Fig. 1A) and hypointense on T1-weighted images (Fig.

Malignant transformation of tailgut cysts is significantly higher than previously reported: systematic review of cases in the literature

“…This discrepancy can be explained by the comparatively recent understanding of the mesorectum in oncological resection, and the consequently greater need for anatomical specificity. Regrettably, the older definition of Hjermstad and Helwig is often blindly imported into modern literature and tailgut cysts are persistently described as 'confined to the retrorectal space' when in fact the very same articles contain radiological images which confirm the cysts as being in the mesorectum [113,114,134,135]. Our experience has also been of cysts confined to the mesorectum.…”

A Tailgut Cyst—Cystic Mass Diagnosed by Prenatal Ultrasonography

“…There have been five reports of neonatal cases in the literature. [13][14][15][16][17] Among these previous cases of neonatal tailgut cysts, three cases were identified postnatally and the other two cases were identified prenatally. After the introduction of prenatal ultrasonography, the frequency of intrauterine diagnosis of this lesion has increased.…”