Thyroid & parathyroid
Other thyroid malignancies
Teratoma
Author: Sheren Younes, M.D., Ph.D.
Last author update: 1 July 2015
Last staff update: 18 August 2023
Copyright: 2015-2024, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.
PubMed Search: Teratoma thyroid
Note: Teratoma is described in detail at Mediastinum - Teratoma-cystic; this topic only describes features specific to the thyroid gland
Table of Contents
Definition / general | Sites | Clinical features | Radiology images | Case reports | Gross description | Gross images | Microscopic (histologic) description | Microscopic (histologic) imagesCite this page: Younes S. Teratoma. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/thyroidteratomas.html. Accessed April 19th, 2024.
Definition / general
- Teratoma is a germ cell tumor characterized by the presence of 3 germ cell layers: ectoderm, endoderm and mesoderm
- Common in newborns and infants (usually benign), rare in adolescence, usually malignant in adults (Cancer 2000;88:1149)
Sites
- Only 3 - 6% of teratomas occur in head and neck region (Endocrine 2006;30:231)
Clinical features
- Thyroid mass, usually normal thyroid function
Radiology images
Images hosted on other servers:
Heterogeneously hypoechoic nodule
Large cystic fat-containing mass
Case reports
- 11 month old boy with thyroid teratoma (Int J Surg 2008;6:462)
- 16 year old girl with thyroid teratoma (Tunis Med 2014;92:286)
- 27 year old woman with mature mediastinal teratoma extending into cervical neck (Interact Cardiovasc Thorac Surg 2003;2:265)
- 31 year old woman with primary malignant teratoma with a primitive neuroectodermal tumor component (J Korean Med Sci 2007;22:568)
- 54 year old woman with benign teratoma of thyroid gland (Endocrinol Metab (Seoul) 2013;28:144)
Gross description
- Usually cystic
Gross images
Images hosted on other servers:
Well encapsulated, mixed solid and cystic mass
Lymph node involvement
Microscopic (histologic) description
- Neuro / ectodermal tissue: squamous epithelium, glial tissue
- Endodermal tissue: GI epithelium, thyroid and salivary glands
- Mesodermal tissue: bone and cartilage
- Presence of immature tissue or neuroepithelium makes it a malignant immature teratoma (Am J Surg Pathol 2005;29:700)
Microscopic (histologic) images
AFIP images
Newborn infant
Images hosted on other servers:
Benign thyroid teratoma
Cartilage
Primitive neuroepithelial cells
