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Case Reports
. 2019 Sep 25;54(3):185-188.
doi: 10.14744/TurkPediatriArs.2019.88155. eCollection 2019.

Primary posterior mediastinal germ cell tumor in a child

Affiliations
Case Reports

Primary posterior mediastinal germ cell tumor in a child

Anastasia Gkampeta et al. Turk Pediatri Ars. .

Abstract

Yolk sac tumor is the most common malignant neoplasm of germ cell origin and usually occurs in infant testes or ovaries. On rare occasions, the tumor arises from extragonadal sites, including the sacrococcygeal region, uterus, vagina, prostate, retroperitoneum, liver, mediastinum (commonly in the anterior), pineal gland, and third ventricle. Yolk sac tumors have an unfavorable prognosis, if not treated aggressively. We report the case of a 3-year-old boy with a primary posterior mediastinal yolk sac tumor who was managed initially with surgery, followed by chemotherapy and had a favorable prognosis. In the literature on yolk sac tumors presenting as a mediastinal mass, pediatric germ cell tumors have been reported very rarely in the posterior mediastinum.

Yolk sac tümörü en sık görülen germ hücre kaynaklı malin neoplazmadır ve genellikle bebek testisi ya da overlerinde ortaya çıkar. Nadir durumlarda, tümör sakrokoksigeal bölge, uterus, vajen, prostat, retroperitoneal bölge, karaciğer, mediasten (sıklıkla önde), pineal bez ve üçüncü ventrikül gibi ekstragonadal bölgelerden kaynaklanır. Agresif olarak tedavi edilmezlerse, yolk sac tümörlerinin seyri kötüdür. Burada, başlangıçta cerrahi uygulanan, sonrasında kemoterapi alan ve olumlu bir seyir gösteren, birincil posterior mediastinal yolk sac tümörü olan 3 yaşında bir erkek çocuğunu sunduk. Mediastinal kitle olarak prezente olan yolk sac tümörleri ile ilgili dizinde, çocuk germ hücreli tümörler arka mediastende çok nadir olarak bildirilmiştir.

Keywords: Children; extragonadal; mediastinum; yolk sac tumor.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of Interest: No conflict of interest was declared by the authors.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Computed tomography scan of the chest revealing extended right-sided pleural effusion and a large paraspinal lobulated mass in posterior mediastinum
Figure 2
Figure 2
Magnetic resonance image of the chest showing a large right paraspinal soft tissue lobulated mass heterogeneously enhancing with multiple internal necrotic-cystic lesions in the posterior mediastinum extending from the T8 to T12 vertebrae

References

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