Gastric teratoma: unusual cause for bleeding of the upper gastrointestinal tract in the newborn

Abstract

Bleeding of the upper gastrointestinal tract in the full-term newborn is a relatively benign and rare occurrence. This report describes a female infant with a gastric teratoma who experienced recurrent bleeding of the upper gastrointestinal tract as a neonate and infant secondary to gastric outlet obstruction. Anteroposterior and lateral abdominal radiographs revealed a large calcified abdominal mass with the pathognomonic features of a teratoma with a mandible and teeth. Gastric teratomas have not been previously reported as an etiologic or predisposing condition of gastrointestinal hemorrhage in two large reviews concerning this topic in the newborn and infant. This patient represents the 51st case and only the second female described in the literature. The frequency and unusual features of this treatable lesion, as well as the diagnostic approach to bleeding of the upper gastrointestinal tract in the newborn, are reviewed.