The neurenteric cyst is a rare lesion composed of heterotopic endodermal tissue. During the third week of human embryogenesis, the neurenteric canal unites the yolk sac and the amniotic cavity as it traverses the primitive notochordal plate. Persistence of the normally transient neurenteric canal prevents appropriate separation of endoderm and notochord. This results in a variable degree of communication between neural and enteric epithelium.
Comment:
Individuals diagnosed with neurenteric cysts most frequently present in the second and third decades of life with a male-to-female ratio of approximately 2:1. Moreover, in the pediatric population, 61.2 percent of patients found to have neurenteric cysts are male with a mean age of 6.4 years at presentation. The majority of adult patients with neurenteric cysts present with progressive focal pain at the level of spinal axis pathology, fluctuating myelopathic signs, or radicular symptoms.