====== Thoracic teratoma ======
A 23-year-old man presented with difficulty [[walk]]ing and [[leg pain]] and [[numbness]]. [[MRI]] revealed a [[cystic lesion]] at Th11-12 and a [[pineal region tumor]]. The patient underwent surgery to resect the thoracic-level mass. The tumour adhered strongly to the neural tissue and could only be partially resected. On pathological examination, the resected tumour was diagnosed as a [[mature teratoma]]. The tumour regrew and disseminated within 3 months after [[resection]]. Both the [[spinal cord tumor]] and the tumour in the [[pineal region]] shrank significantly after [[chemotherapy]] and [[radiotherapy]]. Although the tumour was pathologically diagnosed as a mature teratoma, Kawai et al. from the Keio University School of Medicine, [[Tokyo]], Japan, suspected that the residual tumour contained an immature or malignant component. Thus, careful follow-up observation is mandatory after [[partial resection]] of a mature teratoma. In addition, because [[teratoma]]s can disseminate in the [[central nervous system]], the presence of teratoma should prompt an examination of both the [[spinal cord]] and [[brain]]
((Kawai M, Nagoshi N, Iwanami A, Mikami S, Tsuji O, Fujita N, Yagi M, Watanabe
K, Ishii K, Nakamura M, Matsumoto M. Acute regrowth and dissemination of a mature
spinal cord teratoma after partial resection. BMJ Case Rep. 2018 Sep 1;2018. pii:
bcr-2017-223742. doi: 10.1136/bcr-2017-223742. PubMed PMID: 30173127.
)).