J Biomed Res.  2013 Dec;14(4):249-252.

Primary rectal mature teratoma: a case report

• Lee YM
• Han JH
• Lee HC

Abstract

This report describes a rare case of primary rectal mature teratoma in a 56-year-old woman. She was referred to the outpatient clinic with a large pedunculated rectal mass, which was found during a regular health check-up. Polypectomy was performed and microscopic findings showed various structures derived from all three germ cell layers. Epidermis, hair follicles, sebaceous glands, eccrine glands, and apocrine sweat glands, with some scattered melanophages and lymphocytes were present as ectodermal derivatives. Smooth muscle fibers, blood vessels, and fibrous and adipose tissues were found as mesodermal derivatives. In addition, thyroid follicles, mucinous glands, and bronchial respiratory epithelium with peribronchial glands were detected as endodermal derivatives. She is healthy and has shown no evidence of recurrence or distant metastasis for 25 months post-surgical resection. Primary rectal teratomas are generally benign and primarily affect women. Therefore, minimally invasive surgical procedures, such as endoscopic polypectomy for a pedunculated polyp and segmentectomy for a larger mass, are satisfactory in most cases. Induction of primary rectal teratomas has been suggested to occur mainly by errors in a single germ cell after the end of meiosis I; in addition, it has also been suggested that the difference in gender incidence may be associated with differences in sex chromosomes between males and females rather than with anatomical proximity between ovary and rectum.

Keyword

dermoid cyst; meiosis; polyps; rectum; teratoma

MeSH Terms

Ambulatory Care Facilities
Blood Vessels
Dermoid Cyst
Eccrine Glands
Ectoderm
Endoderm
Epidermis
Female
Germ Cells
Hair Follicle
Humans
Incidence
Lymphocytes
Male
Mastectomy, Segmental
Meiosis
Mesoderm
Middle Aged
Mucins
Muscle, Smooth
Neoplasm Metastasis
Ovary
Polyps
Rectum
Recurrence
Respiratory Mucosa
Sebaceous Glands
Sex Chromosomes
Surgical Procedures, Minimally Invasive
Sweat Glands
Teratoma*
Thyroid Gland
Mucins