There are obviously many different "signatures," which include angiomas (port-wine colored birth marks of the skin), lipomas (doming of the skin due underlying balls of fatty tissue), sinus tracts (dimples in the skin due to tracts that extend from the skin to the spinal cord), hairy patches, atrophic patches (defects in the skin) and abnormal skin appendages. Any cutaneous abnormality that occurs in the midline and is at the lumbar-sacral junction or above it has a very high likelihood of being associated with underlying abnormalities of the spinal cord.
Skin Angioma
A fatty mass underlying the skin such as this is typically associated with a tethered spinal cord. The fatty mass extends down to the spinal cord, attaching it to surrounding tissues.
A dimple in the skin overlying the spine is commonly associated with a tract extending down to the spinal cord. These tracts tether the spinal cord and can cause meningitis, an infection of the spinal fluid.
A hairy patch such as this is typically associated with a tethered spinal cord due to a bony or fibrous strand extending through the spinal cord.