Gray-scale ultrasonic features of ovarian teratomas.
Forty patients with pelvic masses were examined with ultrasound; surgical exploration subsequently revealed an ovarian teratoma. The echographic appearance of the lesions was extremely variable. Although a number of characteristic features of teratomas have been described (axial location, solid mural component, acoustic shadow, and "hair/fluid level"), these occurred only in a minority (17/40) of patients. When the clinical setting suggests an ovarian teratoma, the ultrasonographer should consider it regardless of the internal architecture and consistency of the mass.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007889:Leiomyoma / Q000175:diagnosis; D008875:Middle Aged; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*; D000292:Pelvic Inflammatory Disease / Q000175:diagnosis; D013724:Teratoma / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014463:Ultrasonography; D014594:Uterine Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis