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Ovarian and non-ovarian teratomas: a wide spectrum of features

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Abstract

Teratoma is a germ cell tumor (GCT) derived from stem cells of the early embryo and the germ line. Teratoma is the most common neoplasm of the ovaries and is usually diagnosed easily using imagings by detecting fat components. However, there are various histopathological types and the imaging findings differ according to the type. Teratoma usually occurs in the gonads or in the midline due to migration of primordial germ cells during development. The clinical course of teratomas depends on the age of the patient, histological type, and anatomical site. Sometimes teratomas show unusual manifestations, such as mature teratoma without demonstrable fat components, torsion, rupture, growing teratoma syndrome, anti-N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor encephalitis, and autoimmune hemolytic anemia. For all of these reasons, teratomas demonstrate a wide spectrum of imaging features and radiologists should be familiar with these variabilities. The present article aims to introduce a model encompassing types of GCTs based on their developmental potential, and to review several histopathological types in various anatomical sites and unusual manifestations of teratomas, with representative imaging findings.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Editage (www.editage.jp) for English language editing.

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  1. Department of Radiology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8575, Japan

    Tsukasa Saida, Kensaku Mori, Tomohiko Masumoto, Sodai Hoshiai, Toshitaka Ishiguro, Masafumi Sakai, Tadashi Hara & Manabu Minami

  2. Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tsukuba, 1-1-1 Tennodai, Tsukuba, Ibaraki, 305-8575, Japan

    Hiroyuki Ochi & Toyomi Satoh

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  1. Tsukasa Saida
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Saida, T., Mori, K., Masumoto, T. et al. Ovarian and non-ovarian teratomas: a wide spectrum of features. Jpn J Radiol 39, 143–158 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11604-020-01035-y

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