Benign cystic teratoma of the mesosigmoid – Report of a case.

Introduction: Extragonadal intraperitoneal teratomas are very rare, especially those arising from mesentery and mesocolon. In the contemporary literature only 22 cases of such tumors have been published and described.

Case Outline: We report a case of a 52-year-old woman with a benign cystic teratoma of the mesosigmoid. The patient presented with mild clinical signs of intestinal obstruction. Computerized tomography of the pelvis and abdomen showed a large 9.7 × 8.9 × 9.4 cm calcified tumor in the lower part of the left hemiabdomen. Extraluminal obstruction was verified by colonoscopy at 35 cm from the anal verge. Intraoperatively, a cystic calcified tumor of the mesosigmoid was found causing extraluminal obstruction of the left colon. The tumor was extirpated and a partial resection of the adherent great omentum was performed. The histopathological examination revealed a benign cystic teratoma.

Conclusion: Considering the fact that mesenteric teratomas are extremely rare tumors, it is difficult to designate a general conclusion for an adequate treatment of patients suffering from them. Complete surgical excision is indicated in order to establish a correct histopathological diagnosis and to relieve the patients of symptoms.