Bilateral teratoma of testis in an infant

Abstract Germ-cell tumors, which comprise more than 95% of testicular tumors, have an incidence of three per 100,000 of the male population. 1 These tumors are rare in infancy and childhood; they account for less than 5% of testicular tumors. 2,3 Nevertheless, among malignant diseases of pediatric patients, they rank seventh in frequency, 4 with most occurring during the first 4 yr of life. 2 About 30% of the testicular tumors of germinal origin found in the prepubertal period are teratomas, which occur slightly less frequently than do embryonal carcinomas or orchioblastomas. 5 In 1957, Phelan et al. 6 reviewed 464 childhood testicular tumors reported between 1923 and 1955 and found 48 teratomas; none were bilateral. Since then an additional 60 childhood teratomas have been described. Houser et al. 5 tabulated 14 of these; the remaining cases, with various degrees of documentation, are listed in Table 1. In only one case was the teratoma bilateral, but no details were provided. 2 The purpose of this report is to document a second case of bilateral testicular teratoma in a prepubertal child and to discuss the therapeutic problem posed by this rare situation.