Fatty filum terminale

 

LIPOMA OF FILUM TERMINALE

Persistence of caudal cells that differentiate toward fat could produce filar lipomas. The presence of fat within the filum terminal may be observed incidentally in 4% to 19% of normal adults and may be considered a normal variation if the fat is not associated with cord tethering or neurologic dysfunction.

Typically, fatty fila thicker than 2 mm are regarded as filar lipomas.They exhibit increased signal intensity on T1-weighted images and progressively lower signal intensity with greater T2 weighting and are easily observed on good sagittal and axial sections.
(Ref : Scott Atlas, 4th, 2009).

This is sometimes also called as fibrolipoma of filum terminale. Conus medullaris has to be normal in position.     (Ref : Differential Diagnosis in MRI, Burgener).