[Intramedullary mature teratoma associated with an attached cord and an intradural lipoma. Apropos of a surgically treated case. Review of the literature].

The authors report the case of a 33 year-old male with urinary disturbances referred for removal of a spinal intradural mass associated with a L4 spina bifida occulta. At operation three types of lesions were present: a tethered cord, an intradural lipoma of the cauda equina and conus medullaris and an intramedullary mature teratoma. A total removal of teratoma and lipoma and a section of the filum terminale achieved a normalization of urological function. Such mature teratoma that consists of all three germ layers only represent 2% of all intramedullary tumors. Pathogenesis is dysembryoplastic but still remains unclear: germinal cells might have been displaced into the dorsal midline during their normal migration from yolk sac to gonadal ridges. Their association with other dysgenetic lesions such as lipoma or spina bifida is not rare but the links between these different pathologies remain unknown.