PubReading [20] - Anatomy, Back, Cauda Equina - E. Berg, J. Ashurst.

In 1595, French anatomist Andre du Laurens first described the structure of a rope-like tail of fibers at the caudal end of the spinal cord. This bundle of numerous axons was termed the cauda equina, from the Latin translation meaning “horse’s tail,” and it contains nerves which innervate both sensory and motor targets within lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal spinal cord levels. Epidemiologic assessments regard lesions to the cauda equina as uncommon, with a prevalence of 1 to 3 per 100,000 subjects. Typically caused by a herniated intervertebral disc at the L5-S1 levels, such lesions affect females as often as males and manifest as a number of urogenital and neuromuscular symptoms in the namesake “cauda equina syndrome." - StatPearls Publishing -2021