Congenital Dermal Sinuses: An Clinical Analysis of 20 Cases

Objective: Congenital dermal sinus is a rare congenital disease that results from the failure of the neuroectoderm to separate from the surface ectoderm during the process of neurulation, where there is communication between the skin and the deeper structures. Their pathogenesis, clinical course and treatment strategy are well known. We analyze our series and compare our results with other series. Methods: Twenty patients were diagnosed as congenital dermal sinus and confirmed pathologically from October 1986 to July 2003 at our hospital. We studied the patients' clinical manifestations, radiological findings and pathological profiles. Results: Seven cases were located in the suboccipital area and 13 cases were located in the spinal area. Interestingly, 4 of 13 spinal lesion cutaneous openings were located lower than the 3rd sacral body level. 8 of 20 lesions were terminated at neural structures, 4 of 20 lesions were terminated at the intradural portion and others terminated at the extradural portion. Nine anomalies were combined with the dermal sinus, including 4 lipomas, 2 Currarino's triad, 1 encephalocele, 1 myelomeningocele and 1 diastematomyelia. Eleven patients had dermoid tumors. Conclusion: Congenital Dermal Sinus must be surgically removed immediately if they are diagnosed. The surgical procedure of congenital dermal sinus is complete removal, but in some cases, complete removal is impossible. In those cases, we removed all epithelial tissues. We consider sacrococcygeal dimple almost invariably have no connection with intraspinal structures. But, if other cutaneous manifestations are combined with cutaneous pits, it can communicate with the sacrococcygeal dimple.