Abstract
A mature teratoma was identified in a 2-month-old girl who was operated on for a sacrococcygeal mass. The cystic components of the mass were accidentally opened during surgery and a solid, rudimentary organ resembling a heart emerged. It had a vascular pedicle and a pulsation like cardiac activity, different from the infant’s heart rate. The mass was excised together with the coccyx and was histologically diagnosed a rudimentary heart. To the authors’ knowledge, this case is only the second described in the literature. It is considered that fetus-in-fetu and teratomas are not different entities which may have possibly the same developmental origin.—Thomas A. Angerpointner
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