Giant mature primary retroperitoneal teratoma in a young adult: report of a rare case and literature review.

Walid Sasi,Giuseppe A Ricchetti,Laila Parvanta,Robert Carpenter

doi:10.1155/2014/930538

Abstract

Teratomas are neoplasms of the embryonic tissues that typically arise in the gonadal and sacrococcygeal regions of adults and children. Primary adult retroperitoneal teratomas are rare and demand challenging management options. We report a case of a unilateral primary retroperitoneal mature cystic teratoma mimicking an adrenal mass in a 28-year-old female patient. Complete resection of the mass was performed by a laparotomy approach. Because of the risk of malignancy, follow-up radiographic studies were performed to ensure the oncologic efficacy of resection. The patient remains free of recurrence to date.

Highlights

Primary mature teratomas are uncommon nonseminomatous germ cell tumors and are made up of well-differentiated parenchymal tissues composed of somatic cell types that are derived from two or more germ layers [1,2,3]
A few case reports of the retroperitoneal teratomas have been documented in the literature so far [10]
They are more frequently encountered at the left side, and the majority is asymptomatic, present with nonspecific complaints, or is identified incidentally on routine investigations [7, 8]

Summary

Introduction

Primary mature teratomas are uncommon nonseminomatous germ cell tumors and are made up of well-differentiated parenchymal tissues composed of somatic cell types that are derived from two or more germ layers (ectoderm, mesoderm, or endoderm) [1,2,3]. They usually occur in midline (paraxial) structures. Retroperitoneal teratomas are rare and account for only 4% of all primary teratomas [4, 7, 8] They are believed to arise as metastasis from the gonadal tissue rather than to represent true primary tumours [2] and are more common in childhood and rarely occur in adults [9]. We report a case of unilateral primary mature cystic teratoma of the retroperitoneum mimicking an adrenal mass in an adult female patient

Case Report

Findings

Discussion