Giant Cervical Immature Teratoma: A Case Report of a Fetal Autopsy

Introduction: Cervical teratoma is a rare neoplasm originating from the pluripotent cells and ectopic embryogenic non-germ cells and is manifested as a large and deformed mass in the neck. Case presentation: We reported a fetal autopsy case with the diagnosis of cervical immature teratoma. Prenatal sonography showed a huge neck mass with differential diagnosis of thyromegaly or thymoma. Conclusions: On autopsy, a well circumscribed encapsulated mass measuring 10×7×5 centimeter was identified. Histopathological examination showed a neoplastic tissue composed of haphazardly arranged various mature and immature tissues derived from the three germ cell layers. The thyroid gland was not identified in the gross and serial sections of microscopic examination. Therefore teratoma must be considered in the differential diagnosis of neck masses in fetus and may involve the thyroid gland or arise from it.