Limited dorsal myeloschisis with no extradural stalk linking to a flat skin lesion: a case report

BackgroundLimited dorsal myeloschisis (LDM) is characterized by a fibroneural stalk linking the skin lesion to the underlying spinal cord.Case presentationA 7-month-old girl with a lumbosacral cigarette-burn flat skin lesion underwent untethering surgery. The intradural tethering stalk appeared to originate at the dural wall and join the cord with no extradural stalk linking to the skin lesion. Histological examination of the intradural stalk revealed glial fibrillary acidic protein-immunopositive neuroglial tissues in the fibrocollagenous band, which is the central histopathological feature of an LDM stalk.Conclusion It is conceivable that the LDM stalk in our patient was originally linked to the skin lesion and subsequently regressed and was replaced by mature adipose tissue. We should be mindful of possible variations in the morphological features of LDM.