Spinal rhabdomyosarcoma in a child with lipomyelomeningocele.

Malignant tumors arising within dysrhaphic malformations are very rare and are mostly teratomas; so far, only one rhabdomyosarcoma has been reported in this context. We report another case of a girl with lipomyelomeningocele who developed a lumbar rhabdomyosarcoma 2 years after birth and primary closure of the neural tube defect. We present clinical, radiological and pathological findings, discuss possible mechanisms of malignant transformation and review the literature.