Acute thoracic distress in childhood due to spontaneous rupture of a large mediastinal teratoma

Abstract

We have presented what we believe to be the first report of a mediastinal teratoma which ruptured into the pleural cavity of a child. The patient presented as an acute thoracic catastrophy with respiratory distress and severe chest pain. Despite extensive diagnostic procedures, the true nature of the lesion was not determined until a thoracotomy was performed. A review of the English literature pertinent to mediastinal tumors disclosed 120 teratomas in children, 23 per cent of which were malignant. Complications of mediastinal teratomas, including rupture into the pleural space, pericardium, tracheobronchial tree, great vessels, and esophagus, are discussed and diagnostic procedures are reviewed.