Fibrous hamartoma of infancy of the spinal cord resembling conus and filum, with a coexisting sacral dimple

Fibrous hamartoma of infancy (FHI) is a rare benign soft tissue lesion of infants and young children. It usually occurs within the first 2 years of life at the superficial layer of the axilla, trunk, upper arm, and external genitalia. FHI in the central nervous system (CNS) is extremely rare. So far, only two spinal cord FHI cases have been reported. We present a case of a 1-month-old girl who presented with a skin dimple in the coccygeal area. Her MRI showed a substantial intramedullary mass in the thoracolumbar area with a sacral soft tissue mass and a track between the skin lesion to the coccygeal tip. Her normal neurological status halted immediate surgical resection. A skin lesion biopsy was first performed, revealing limited information with no malignant cells. A short-term follow-up was performed until the intramedullary mass had enlarged on the 5-month follow-up MRI. Based on the frozen biopsy result of benign to low-grade spindle cell mesenchymal tumor, subtotal resection of the mass was done, minimizing damage to the functioning neural tissue. Both the skin lesion and the intramedullary mass were diagnosed as FHI. Postoperative 5.5-year follow-up MRI revealed minimal size change of the residual mass. Despite being diagnosed with a neurogenic bladder, the patient maintained her ability to void spontaneously, managed infrequent UTIs, and continued toilet training, all while demonstrating good mobility and no motor weakness. This case is unique because the lesion resembled the secondary neurulation structures, such as the conus and the filum, along with a related congenital anomaly of the dimple.

Automated summary

Fibrous hamartoma of infancy (FHI) is a rare benign soft tissue lesion that usually occurs in infants and young children within the first 2 years of life. FHI in the central nervous system (CNS) is extremely rare, with only two cases of spinal cord FHI reported so far. We present a unique case of FHI in a 1-month-old girl with a skin dimple in the coccygeal area, where both a skin lesion and an intramedullary mass were diagnosed as FHI. Despite being diagnosed with a neurogenic bladder, the patient maintained normal neurological function and showed good mobility during the 5.5-year follow-up period.