Gastric teratoma in children

Gastric teratoma (GT) comprises less than 1% of all teratomas in children. Though GT in the presence of immature neuroepethelial elements is regarded as malignant, the prognosis is excellent after complete excision of the tumor. Because of its rarity the world literature lacks a large study. Clinical experience with ten cases of GT is presented and discussed. Only one patient was female; the mean age at presentation was 3.2 months. Two cases were immature grade III GT; one of these had infiltrated the left lobe of the liver and the transverse colon while the other had metastasized to the regional lymph nodes and omentum. All the patients underwent complete excision. There were no deaths, and after a mean follow-up period of 4.2 years, all the patients had no recurrence and were healthy. Both the mature and immature types of GT have an excellent prognosis after complete excision of the tumor. Even when the immature type infiltrates surrounding structures, complete excision offers recurrence-free survival without requiring chemo- or radiotherapy.