Source: Nanning News Network
A 23-year-old woman in Guangxi was unmarried and had no children but suffered frequent abdominal pain.
It was found that it was a " teratoma ".
There were hair, fat and other tissues in the tumor.
The woman had frequent abdominal pain after examination. Pregnant with "teratoma"
Recently, 23-year-old Ms. Nie went to the Autonomous Region Maternal and Child Health Hospital for treatment due to frequent abdominal pain. After a B-ultrasound examination, the doctor found a 7.5 cm diameter mass in her left ovary, which required surgical removal as soon as possible.
Considering that Ms. Nie was young and unmarried, in order not to affect her appearance, the doctor performed a transumbilical single-port laparoscopic surgery to remove the tumor from the ovary.
To find out, the doctor cut open the tumor and found an embryo-like tissue inside, including hair, fat and other substances, indicating that it was a teratoma.
Tan Kailiang, deputy chief physician of the Department of Gynecology at the Xiangzhu Campus of the hospital, said that "teratoma" sounds scary, and many people will mistake it for a freak. But in fact, teratoma is just a common type of germ cell tumor and has nothing to do with the fetus.
Most teratomas have no symptoms, but when they grow too large, they will cause symptoms of abdominal distension, mild abdominal pain and compression. When a teratoma twists, symptoms such as cramping, nausea, and vomiting will occur. Since there are no obvious clinical symptoms, most teratomas are discovered accidentally during ultrasound examination. Dr. Tan Kailiang reminds that regular physical examinations are very important.
About Ovarian Teratoma
What exactly is ovarian teratoma?
Ovarian teratoma is a common ovarian germ cell tumor, derived from the primordial germ cells of the embryonic gonads, accounting for 10%-20% of the total number of ovarian tumors. More than 95% of ovarian teratomas are benign, called mature teratomas, and only about 2%-4% are malignant teratomas , called immature teratomas. Many normal-like organs and tissues can be seen in teratomas, such as hair, cartilage, and glands. These tissues likely originate from the three germ layers, . Although these specialized tissues appear normal, they are often unrelated to surrounding tissues.
What is the cause of ovarian teratoma?
Like most tumors, the cause of ovarian teratoma is still unclear.
What impact does ovarian teratoma have on health?
1. Clinical symptoms
When the tumor is small, there are usually no obvious symptoms, and most of them are discovered accidentally during physical examination. Benign teratomas generally increase in size by 1.5cm to 1.7cm per year. When the tumor is large, the patient feels abdominal distension or a palpable mass in the abdomen with clear boundaries. If the tumor grows and fills the pelvic and abdominal cavity, symptoms of compression may occur, such as frequent urination, constipation, shortness of breath, palpitations, etc. About 10% of patients develop acute abdominal pain due to tumor rupture, torsion, or bleeding. Among them, 3%-4% of patients develop ovarian torsion . If the torsion time is too long, it will lead to ischemic necrosis of the ovarian tissue, and eventually the ovary on that side will have to be removed, and the fertility function will be affected.
2, canceration
The probability of teratoma becoming cancerous is low, only 2%-4%. is often asymptomatic in the early stage, and the main symptoms in the late stage are abdominal distension, abdominal mass , ascites and gastrointestinal symptoms. If the tumor infiltrates into surrounding tissues or compresses nerves, it can cause abdominal pain, low back pain, or lower limb pain; if it compresses the pelvic veins, edema of the lower limbs may occur. In the late stage, cachexia symptoms such as weight loss and severe anemia may occur.
3. A very small number of patients have endocrine and metabolic abnormalities.
Because the teratomas of these patients contain functional tissue components, such as thyroid-like tissue, which can secrete too much thyroxine, causing abnormal metabolism of the body and causing symptoms of hyperthyroidism.
How to determine whether you have ovarian teratoma?
The diagnosis of teratoma is mainly based on clinical symptoms, physical examination, ultrasonic diagnosis and MRI. Ovarian teratomas tend to occur in women of childbearing age between 20 and 40 years old. Generally, painless, smooth, cystic-solid tumors can be palpated in the ovary position of the lower abdomen, with good mobility, and some may be bilateral. The accuracy of B-ultrasound is over 90%, showing that the mass is cystic and solid, with clear boundaries and a hyperechoic mass within.
How to treat ovarian teratoma?
Ovarian teratomas are more common in adolescent girls and women of childbearing age. After being diagnosed with ovarian teratoma, you should actively listen to the doctor's advice. For young patients, surgical removal of cysts is the first choice. Older, menopausal patients need to have their ovaries and fallopian tubes removed.
If the tumor is approximately 5 cm in diameter, it should be surgically removed as soon as possible. Laparoscopic surgery is currently the most commonly used method. The teratoma is removed during surgery and normal ovarian tissue is retained. Single-port laparoscopic surgery through the natural orifice (navel or vagina) is a highly recommended surgical method in recent years. This surgical incision has hidden scars and meets the needs of beauty-loving women. The patient has less pain after the operation and has a quick recovery. . Of course, not every patient is suitable for laparoscopic surgery through natural orifice, and doctors need to fully evaluate the patient before formulating the most appropriate surgical plan.
reminds all friends that
regular physical examinations are very important!
