Mediastinal masses: a case of fetal teratoma and literature review
Giancotti, A.; La Torre, R.; Bevilacqua, E.; D'Ambrosio, V.; Pasquali, G.; Panici, P.Benedetti.
Clinical and Experimental Obstetrics and Gynecology 39(3): 384-387
2012
ISSN/ISBN: 0390-6663 PMID: 23157052 Document Number: 658710
Fetal mediastinal masses are rare congenital formations that could complicate pregnancy. They are usually discovered as space occupying lesions in the fetal chest during routine ultrasound scan. The most important prognostic factors of mediastinal masses are mass location, compressing effect causing pulmonary hypoplasia and/or heart failure, and the presence or absence of hydrops. We report a case of fetal mediastinal teratoma and a review of the literature. A 32-year-old woman carrying a fetus with hydrops due to a mediastinal mass underwent cesarean section at 32 1/7 weeks' gestation. A well encapsulated tumor was excised by surgery at one day of life. The baby is now eight months old without respiratory difficulty. To our knowledge, this is the fourth case report of a mediastinal teratoma associated with nonimmune hydrops in a fetus that survived the neonatal period. Fetal mediastinal teratoma requires close surveillance and multidisciplinary management by obstetricians, neonatologists, and pediatric surgeons.