What is the most serious case of teratoma

What is the most serious case of teratoma? Many teratoma patients usually have no symptoms, but they are at a loss when they are found to have teratoma during physical examination. It is a benign gynecological tumor and generally will not become malignant, but there are a few malignant teratomas, which are more serious. The following is a detailed introduction for you.

Clinical manifestations

1. Intracranial teratoma

Because intracranial teratomas are usually located in the midline, there are often no obvious signs of brain localization. Most patients have increased intracranial pressure as the first symptom, manifested as headache, nausea, vomiting, and ophthalmological examination shows bilateral papilledema. Teratomas located in the pineal region may cause binocular inability to look up, ataxia, precocious puberty, cranial nerve palsy, etc. Those in the sellar region may experience diabetes insipidus, drowsiness, visual field disorders, and water and fat metabolism disorders. Those in the posterior cranial fossa may experience cerebellar function damage and neck stiffness. Those in the cerebellopontine angle may experience headache, vomiting, diplopia, ataxia, deafness, tremor, cranial nerve damage, etc.

2. Gastric teratoma

The main clinical manifestations are abdominal mass, mostly in the left upper abdomen, abdominal distension, vomiting, hematemesis and/or melena, dyspnea, and anemia. In newborns or infants, upper abdominal mass and upper gastrointestinal bleeding (most commonly intermittent melena) are the main clinical manifestations.

3. Testicular teratoma

The high-incidence age of testicular teratoma can be divided into two age groups: children and adults. The high-incidence age of testicular teratoma in children is 1 to 2 years old, and the high-incidence age of testicular teratoma in adults is 25 to 35 years old. The vast majority of patients present with a painless testicular mass that is hard, nodular or irregular.

4. Ovarian teratoma

The disease has a high incidence of metastasis. The metastasis spreads along the peritoneum. Common metastatic sites include the pelvic and abdominal peritoneum, greater omentum, liver surface, diaphragm, intestines and mesentery. Most metastatic lesions are surface implants. Lymph node metastasis is not uncommon.

5. Sacrococcygeal teratoma, etc.

Sacrococcygeal teratomas vary in size, and patients often have difficulty urinating and defecating. Sometimes, the buttocks may be swollen, and there may be a mass in the sacrococcygeal region. Because the tumor often grows to one side toward the buttocks, the buttocks often appear asymmetrical. Sometimes the tumor bulges out from the perineum. Those with rectal compression or involvement may have constipation or fecal incontinence. Those with huge tumors may affect their mother's delivery. Presacral masses may be palpated during rectal examination. Malignant teratomas grow rapidly, with progressive constipation and difficulty urinating.

Ovarian teratoma is an extremely common ovarian tumor. Teratomas can be divided into malignant and benign types. Teratomas mostly occur in women of childbearing age. More than 80% of teratomas are benign tumors, and less than 10% of teratomas are malignant tumors. So, if a female patient unfortunately suffers from ovarian teratoma, the most worrying thing is that benign ovarian teratoma will also become malignant. So what is the probability of ovarian teratoma becoming malignant? Let me analyze it for you here.

First of all, once a woman finds out that she has ovarian teratoma, she needs treatment as soon as possible. The longer the disease is delayed, the greater the possibility of the teratoma becoming malignant. Of course, we are talking about possibility here. There are also a few patients with benign teratoma who were not treated until many years after the disease and no malignant transformation was found.

Based on the above situation, it can be preliminarily estimated that the probability of ovarian malignant teratoma becoming malignant is about 2%, which is very low, but once it happens, it is also the last thing every patient wants to see. When ovarian teratoma becomes malignant, symptoms such as fever, swollen lymph nodes, and cancer cell metastasis will appear.

Malignant ovarian teratoma is extremely harmful to female patients of childbearing age and is also one of the important factors causing infertility in women of childbearing age. In order to avoid the malignant transformation of the tumor caused by delayed treatment, we recommend that patients with benign ovarian teratoma undergo surgical resection as soon as possible.

To sum up, the probability of malignant transformation of ovarian teratoma is about 2%. Although the probability is not very high, in order to avoid malignant transformation, patients with benign ovarian teratoma are recommended to undergo surgical treatment as soon as possible.