Prenatal sonographic detection of pericardial teratoma

Abstract

Patients with pericardial teratomas usually present shortly after birth with cardiorespiratory distress or in utero with hydrops fetalis. We report a case in which the tumor was diagnosed in utero using sonography during a routine obstetric examination. Sonograms showed a 3‐cm echogenic mass compressing the right atrium. The lesion was inhomogeneous with solid and cystic areas. The fetus was followed to term, and additional radiologic studies were performed before the infant underwent surgery. Prenatal identification of a pericardial teratoma is essential for planning fetal management and delivery and potential prenatal surgery. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Clin Ultrasound 28:194–198, 2000.

Fetal intrapericardial teratoma

“…In the comprehensive review of Bustamante et al 1 , 15 cases of IPT diagnosed in utero were reported. A review of the English and Spanish medical literature added further cases that were documented later 2 -7 , and, at the time of writing, ours was the 25 th case (Table 1; refs 2 -22 ).…”

“…Tollens et al reported the presence of a second tumor in the superior mediastinum 19 . Differential diagnosis should include other thoracic masses such as pulmonary masses, bronchogenic cyst, intracardiac neoplasms, mediastinal teratoma and ventricular aneurysms 1,8,9,15,20 . The presence of pericardial effusion should alert one as to the possibility of IPT.…”

“…The karyotype revealed a partial trisomy 3p and a partial monosomy 9p, karyotype 46,XY, der(9)t(3p;9p)(p14.2;p24) as an unbalanced product of a maternal autosomal reciprocal translocation 46,XX, t(3;9)-(p14.2;p24). Fluorescence in-situ hybridization (FISH) using the subtelomeric probes 9pter (GS-43N6) and 3pter (GS-1186B18) 1 confirmed the unbalanced translocation. To determine the size of the 9p deletion and 3p duplication a series of bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clones spanning the breakpoint regions were isolated and hybridized on metaphases of the patient using standard FISH procedures.…”

Intrapericardial Extralobar Pulmonary Sequestration

“…The multicystic nature, large size, and combination of adipose tissue and calcification within the mass are suggestive of teratoma. Bustamante et al 8 stressed that radiologists should leave the diagnosis open concerning other pericardial masses such as bronchogenic cysts, cystic hygroma, hemangioma, and mesothelioma in differential diagnosis of these cases. Differential diagnosis between pulmonary sequestration and teratomas or other intrapericardial masses may not be possible until after histopathologic examination.…”

Intrapericardial Teratoma in the Newborn - 3D-Echocardiography and Course of Disease

“…In the fetus and the neonate, intrapericardial teratomas are detected using two-dimensional echocardiography. Diagnosis may be confirmed by MRT or computer tomography [2,5]. This is the first report on the use of 3D-echocardiography for diagnosis and evaluation of a pericardial teratoma.…”