Abstract
We experienced a resected case of teratoma arising in the liver. A 46-year-old asymptomatic woman was found having the hepatic teratoma by abdominal echography when she underwent a clinical survey. On admission to the hospital, physical and laboratory examination revealed no abnormal findings. Tumor markers were within normal limits. Some imaging methods showed a well-defined tumor in the right lobe of the liver, measuring about 6cm in diameter. Surgical exploration was performed with a preoperative diagnosis of hepatic lipoma. The pathologic diagnosis was benign hepatic teratoma. Teratoma is a true neoplasm, which must contain histological elements from three germinal layers. Primary hepatic teratoma is rare, and only 26 cases have been reported worldwide. It has two predisposing ages of onset, and can be divided into two groups, infant and adult type.
In this paper 9 cases of adult type, including this case, are reviewed. Among these adults this patient was oldest. The male-to-female ratio was 1 to 8. Seven cases had the common previous history of undergoing operation for an ovarian tumor, and most of them are thought to be from the germ-cell. This fact might contribute to clarify the mechanisms of onset of the disease.
