Tailgut cysts: Presentation of four cases

Retrorectal tailgut cyst

Retrorectal tailgut cysts are rare congenital cystic lesions that are found in the presacral space. A case of a woman in her 50s who had an incidental finding of a 7 cm presacral mass after an initial chief concern of flank pain is presented in this report. Further work-up with MRI and colonoscopy demonstrated an extraluminal cystic mass within the retrorectal space with hyperintense foci on T1-weighted imaging. A posterior approach was used to access the retrorectal space and remove the cystic mass. Pathology demonstrated findings consistent with a tailgut cyst, and the patient made a full recovery following the procedure.

Adenocarcinoma on retrorectal cystic hamartoma: An illustrative image for a very rare diagnosis

Retrorectal cystic hamartoma (also known as tailgut cyst) is a congenital lesion that originates from debris from the embryonic caudal intestine. Incidentally diagnosed in more than half of cases, the treatment of choice is surgical resection. It is a very rare pathology whose oncological transformation constitutes a true pathological rarity.

Tailgut cyst: 2 case reports

Tailgut cysts, or retrorectal cystic hamartomas, are rare congenital developmental lesions. It is a benign lesion, but there is a risk of degeneration, so surgical resection is necessary.

Retrorectal adenocarcinoma arising from tailgut cysts: a rare case report

BACKGROUND

Tailgut cysts arise from the remnants of the tailgut during the embryonic period. Although malignant transition of tailgut cysts is very rarely observed in the clinic, this congenital condition should be carefully monitored for early diagnosis and appropriate treatment, especially when the tailgut cysts are malignant.

CASE PRESENTATION

Here, we report the case of a 33-year-old man with retrorectal adenocarcinoma originating from the tailgut cysts. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed many cystic masses in the posterior rectal space, the largest of which was approximately 100 mm × 59 mm × 53 mm in size and compressed the rectum. The patient underwent surgical resection of the masses located in the retrorectal and anterior sacral spaces. Histological and immunohistological examinations confirmed adenocarcinoma transition of the tailgut cysts. The patient recovered well and was discharged 10 days after surgery.

CONCLUSIONS

We have reported a rare case of retrorectal adenocarcinoma originating from tailgut cysts. MRI, histological, and immunohistological examinations are vital for the diagnosis of tailgut cysts. Complete surgical resection of the tumor should be better performed.