Huge mediastinal teratoma in children: anesthesiological approach, surgical strategy and literature review

Abstract

Teratomas of the anterior mediastinum are infrequent germ cell tumour. These tumours occur at all ages, but are rarely discovered before puberty. We report a case of anterior mediastinal mature teratoma in a baby girl aged 5 months who presented to us with recurrent infectious pneumonia associated with hemoptysis since one month. Computed tomographic scan of thorax revealed a large anterior mediastinal mass measuring 8.01×6.72×7.28 cm 3 with calcification within. The authors report this current case to emphasize the importance of the multidisciplinary care and perioperative approach between anaesthesiologist and surgeon to a successful management of a huge mediastinal mature teratoma in an infant. Tips, tricks and pitfalls are proposed in this paper for a surgical outcome effective and no clinical complication.