Difficulties in the radiological diagnosis of mature adrenal teratoma mimicking neuroblastoma in a child

Abstract

The most common adrenal tumor in young children is neuroblastoma, which can be difficult to differentiate from other conditions such as nephroblastoma, adrenal hemorrhage, angiomyolipoma, myelolipoma, and adenoma. This article describes a case of teratoma, one of the rarest adrenal tumors in children. Initially, despite its large size, it demonstrated all the radiological and histological signs of neuroblastoma. Teratomas are germ cell tumors usually found in the gonads. Adrenal teratomas are extremely rare, accounting for approximately 0.13% of all adrenal tumors. Typically, adrenal teratomas are asymptomatic, as the retroperitoneal space is large enough to accommodate the growth of the tumor without causing symptoms. For the first time in domestic literature, we present a clinical case of adrenal teratoma in a 3-month-old child. The article also presents a detailed description of the diagnostic process and challenges that radiologists and clinicians face when encountering a common tumor in a very rare location for children. This report aimed to help physicians increase awareness of this rare condition and include adrenal teratomas in the potential differential diagnosis of adrenal neoplasms.