Grossly visible prostatic tissue in an ovarian mature cystic teratoma: A case report

Abstract

We report here the case a 30-year-old parous, phenotypically normal, reproductive woman. She presented with mature teratoma of the ovary, which contained well formed, grossly visible prostatic gland with a central urothelium-lined duct resembling a urethra. Mature teratomas are characterized by the presence of tissues derived from the embryonic layers of ectoderm, mesoderm, or endodermal lineage. However, prostatic tissue is a very unusual component of teratomas. The rare existence of prostatic tissue in a mature teratoma can be explored through three feasible pathogenetic theories. These origins include teratomatous monodermal differentiation, developmental abnormality, or metaplasia. The coexistence of rare prostatic tissue with a rare central urethral duct in a mature teratoma makes this case a particularly intriguing one. To our knowledge, this is only the second case of ovarian mature teratoma containing a urethral duct in prostatic tissue in the literature.