Congenital dermal sinus associated with an abscessed intramedullary epidermoid cyst in a child: case report and review of the literature.

A 16-month-old male infant presented with paraparesis and a high thoracic skin dimple. After myelography the child underwent complete surgical removal of the dermal sinus and of an abscessed tumor located within the cervicothoracic cord. Histological study showed that the lesion was an intramedullary epidermoid cyst. Only four descriptions have previously been published of dermal sinuses associated with intramedullary epidermoids, three of them complicated by intramedullary abscesses. This appears to be the first report in the current literature of the association of a dermal sinus and an infected intramedullary epidermoid occurring out of the confines of the lumbosacral region.