1/1927. Fine needle biopsy of metastases at retrograde pyelography, directed by fluoroscopy. Report of a case with malignant teratoma of the testis. Percutaneous fine needle aspiration biopsy was performed at retrograde pyelography in order to differentiate between metastatic and scarry involvement of a strictured ureter in a patient earlier operated upon because of malignant teratoma. The method is recommended in patients with malignant diseases where the differential diagnosis is impossible to establish at retrograde pyelography or urography. ( info) |
2/1927. carcinoid heart disease from ovarian primary presenting with acute pericarditis and biventricular failure. A case is described of a 54 year old woman who had acute pericarditis with large exudative effusion accompanied by severe right and left ventricular failure. The patient was finally diagnosed with carcinoid heart disease from an ovarian carcinoid teratoma. She was treated with octreotide--a somatostatin analogue--followed by radical surgical resection of the neoplasm. At one year follow up only mild carcinoid tricuspid regurgitation remained. Only 16 cases of carcinoid heart disease from an ovarian primary have been described in literature. Moreover clinically manifest acute, nonmetastatic pericarditis and left heart failure are not considered as possible presentations of carcinoid heart disease, whatever the origin. In a recent series a small pericardial effusion was considered an infrequent and unexpected echocardiographic finding in carcinoid heart patients. One case of "carcinoid pericarditis" has previously been described as a consequence of pericardial metastasis. Left sided heart involvement is usually caused by bronchial carcinoids or patency of foramen ovale; both were excluded in the case presented. ( info) |
| central nervous system atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumor (ATT/RT) of infancy and childhood is a unique histologic entity with an extremely aggressive natural history. Standard therapy for infant and childhood medulloblastoma, for which this entity is often mistaken, has been ineffective; most children survive less than 12 months after diagnosis. Intensified therapy has been recently used for children with this disease, with promising results [1,2]. We report four cases of ATT/RT in young children; all had subtotal resections and localized disease at diagnosis. One child treated prior to bone marrow transplant availability died of progressive disease 9 months after diagnosis. Another child, treated with high-dose chemotherapy and radiotherapy in preparation for bone marrow transplant, had a recurrence and died 20 months after diagnosis, without undergoing the transplant. Two children received high-dose chemotherapy and autologous bone-marrow transplant and had a good response to treatment; one survived 19 months, the other child is free of disease 46 months from diagnosis. Intensified therapy has altered the natural history of central nervous system ATT/RT. ( info) |
4/1927. Immature teratoma originating from the pituitary gland: case report. OBJECTIVE AND IMPORTANCE: Recently, it has been suggested that the primary site of suprasellar germinomas is the neurohypophysis, but nongerminomatous germ cell tumors originating from the pituitary gland have been rarely reported. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: A 27-year-old man presented with panhypopituitarism, bitemporal hemianopsia, and mild right oculomotor nerve paralysis. diabetes insipidus was not observed. The tumor was shown by magnetic resonance imaging to extend and invade bilateral cavernous sinuses, sellar and clival dura mater, and the sphenoid sinus mucosa. INTERVENTION: Transsphenoidal removal yielded a diagnosis of immature teratoma. serum alpha-fetoprotein was prominently elevated. Magnetic resonance imaging and surgical findings of the superiorly displaced residual pituitary gland strongly suggest the pituitary origin of this rare tumor. CONCLUSION: In contrast to the neurohypophyseal germinomas, nongerminomatous malignant germ cell tumors originating from the pituitary gland tend not to be associated with diabetes insipidus and thus mimic adenomas. Evaluation of the tumor markers is necessary in young patients with cavernous sinus syndrome and invasive pituitary tumors with heterogeneous intensity revealed by magnetic resonance imaging. ( info) |
5/1927. An unusual case of the complete Currarino triad: case report, discussion of the literature and the embryogenic implications. OBJECTIVE AND IMPORTANCE: We present and illustrate an unusual case of the complete familial Currarino triad (an association between a bony sacral defect, a presacral mass, and an anorectal malformation) in which the teratoma arose from the conus medullaris and contained mature neurons, glia, and branching ependymal canals that were in communication with a terminal syrinx. The embryogenic implications are discussed. CLINICAL PRESENTATION: The patient was a term neonate when discovered to have imperforate anus. Further workup revealed lumbosacral dysraphism with a presacral mass, a rectovaginal fistula, and a single pelvic kidney. The family pedigree revealed a familial transmission pattern; the patient had a second cousin with anal atresia and a first cousin with similar sacral anomalies. The motor level was L4 with trace L5, and there was absent sensation in the sacral dermatomes. INTERVENTION: A diverting colostomy was performed on Day 14, and the infant returned at 3 months of age to undergo near-total resection through the previous abdominal approach. Only a subtotal resection was possible because the mass arose from the low-lying conus and was firmly adherent to the sacral nerve roots and iliac vessel. Follow-up magnetic resonance imaging performed 18 months after surgery revealed that the residual tumor had not progressed. CONCLUSION: Complete Currarino triad is rare and is familial in half of the cases. The special features of the tumor in our case were the presence of mature neurons with ependymal canals and its origin from the conus. The possible embryogenesis may provide evidence that the caudal notochord is important for organized secondary neurulation. ( info) |
6/1927. Gastric teratoma in an infant--a case report. Gastric teratoma is an extremely rare tumour. We report a gastric teratoma in a four month old male infant who presented with a large abdominal mass. There is no evidence of recurrence 1 1/2 years after the tumour was excised. Our case is an addition to the few cases reported in the World literature. ( info) |
7/1927. Intrapericardial benign teratoma with unusual presentation. Benign teratoma, also referred as dermoid cyst, do occur in the mediastinum. However, their intrapericardial location has been reported very occasionally. This case of intrapericardial benign solid teratoma is being presented because of its rarity and its unusual presentation as a case of empyema, with features of cardiac compression and pericardial effusion. ( info) |
8/1927. Late recurrence with malignant degeneration of testicular teratoma. Case report. Radical orchiectomy was performed on a 25-year-old man for benign mature teratoma. A synchronous without change 3 cm retroperitoneal mass was followed for five years. The mass enlarged and became symptomatic twelve years after orchiectomy. Excision of the mass revealed a non-seminomatous germ cell tumor. Possible explanation is malignant degeneration of the teratomatous elements. Testicular teratomas should be treated as potentially malignant non-seminomatous tumor. ( info) |
9/1927. Cervical teratoma. Cervical teratomas are rare tumors in an unusual location. A neck mass in a newborn was excised when it enlarged disproportionately; histologically, it was a teratoma. Teratomas may occur because of an alteration in sterol chemistry; conception in this case occurred while the mother was ingesting estrogens. Retinal tissue, an unusual finding, was present in this teratoma. Symptoms in cervical teratomas are secondary to interference with deglutition and respiration. Treatment is surgical excision. ( info) |
10/1927. Mediastinal teratoma confused with loculated pleural fluid. A 3-year-old child is presented with a benign anterior mediastinal teratoma that was primarily located inferior to the left lung and confused with pleural fluid. The lesion was not apparent at 4 months ofage. Computerized axial tomography of the specimen clearly established the diagnosis. This procedure may be of value in selected patients with apparent pleural disease. ( info) |