Re: lipoma

Posted By CCF Neuro[P] MD, RPS on November 27, 1998 at 12:41:01:

In Reply to: lipoma posted by Cory on November 27, 1998 at 11:30:39:






my daughter is only six weeks old,but at three weeks i discovered a lump on her spinal cord. concerned, i took her to the doctor. the doctor siad that it was a fatty deposit under the skin called a lipoma. i went home to look up the word in y medical dictionary and it said that it was a benign tumor. at my post-partum check-up, i told my obgyn about the situation. he asked me if it was hard or soft. i told him hard. he then asked if i could move it around and i said no. he then told me that it does not sound like it could be lipoma (although he did state that he could not make any medical deterimination because he had not examined her).
my mother thinks that it could be something called spinalifita.
all of theese opinions are confusing. my daughter has an appointment to see a neurosurgon on december 14th, but i would like some information before that to put my mind at ease.
thank you very much or your time.
Dear Cory:
Sorry to hear about your daughter.  A lump can mean alot of things, and generally the outcome is benign and of no significance.  Since you have only felt the lump and no testing has been done, it is difficult to tell you what it actually represents.  If your daughter has what your mother thinks, spinabifida, then you should see some things.  First, there should be a dimple near the crack of her behind, just above it (we call it a sacral dimple).  Second, if she had such a dimple it would be likely that the doctor at her birth would have also seen it.  Spinabifada is where the spinal cord did not close and there is a tract called a fistula between the spinal cord and skin.  Usually, there is loss of lower extremity movement whether it be total or partial.  So, likely it isn't spinabifada.  Just because the mass does not move doesn't mean that it isn't a lipoma or mass of fat enclosed within a membrane.  The spinal cord is a small structure and depending on where the mass is, it may or may not move.  The mass
may also be an enlarged schwann cell, called a schwannoma.  This is also a benign mass.  It could be a lipoma.  It also depends on where the mass is located.  If it is located low on the spinal column near the or on the sacrum, it might be a teratoma or mass of cells that differentiated from several tissue types.  If it is high on the spinal cord,it might be a encephalocele where part of the brain extends out of the spinal canal.  Most of these things are so evident that I am sure that you would have been told at birth.  Based on what I have said, a lipoma or schwannoma are the most likely etiologies of a lump that you describe.  I wouldn't worry, go to your pediatric neurologist or neurosurgeon and get a good exam, maybe some imaging of her spine, and then go from there.  Best of luck, let us know if we can be of further help.
Sincerely,
CCF Neuro[P] MD, RPS