BACKGROUND: We describe the discovery, by pathology, of a totally unexpected diagnosis involving an ovarian teratoma. CASE: A middle-aged woman underwent routine total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingoophrectomy for ultrasonically diagnosed uterine fibroids and a coexistent benign right ovarian cyst. The operative findings were of fibroid uterus and right ovarian teratoma. However, pathology revealed a malignant lymphoma occurring in, and arising from, the teratoma. CONCLUSION: The routine removal of a presumed ovarian teratoma may yield unexpected results. Ovarian teratomas are indeed cellular chimeras.
BACKGROUND: We describe the discovery, by pathology, of a totally unexpected diagnosis involving an ovarian teratoma. CASE: A middle-aged woman underwent routine total abdominal hysterectomy and bilateral salpingoophrectomy for ultrasonically diagnosed uterine fibroids and a coexistent benign right ovarian cyst. The operative findings were of fibroid uterus and right ovarian teratoma. However, pathology revealed a malignant lymphoma occurring in, and arising from, the teratoma. CONCLUSION: The routine removal of a presumed ovarian teratoma may yield unexpected results. Ovarian teratomas are indeed cellular chimeras.