Cervical malignant teratoma masquerading as a hematoma: a case report

BACKGROUND: Post-pubertal teratomas, which mostly occur at 20 to 40 years old, are more likely to be found at a metastatic site in up to 20% of cases and may be inadvertently overlooked. We present a case of cervical malignant teratoma that masqueraded as a hematoma. Case presentation: A 24-year-old man presented to our institution with a 4-month history of a progressively relapsing painless mass in the neck, despite conservative treatments with oral medications. A huge space-occupying mass was identified with almost total occlusion of the left internal jugular vein. The likely diagnosis was an organized hematoma or congenital cystic tumor with internal hemorrhage. Surgical excisional biopsy of the mass lesion was conducted and a malignant teratoma was found. A whole-body positron emission tomography scan showed a left inguinal mass, bilateral intra-abdominal lymphadenopathies, and abdominal metastases. Histopathology further suggested the diagnosis of an immature testicular teratoma with multiple lymph node metastases. The patient received adjuvant chemotherapy with a bleomycin, etoposide, and cisplatin regimen. During follow-up, salvage second-line chemotherapy was required with a paclitaxel, ifosfamide, and cisplatin regimen. CONCLUSION: Although uncommon, cervical teratoma should be taken into consideration once a painless and non-remitting mass lesion is found in a young adult.