title: Primary and secondary orbital teratomas.
abstract: Two patients with primary teratomas of the orbit and a third patient with a teratoma invading the orbit from the maxillary sinus are presented. The clinical presentation of each patient was spectacular. In the primary teratomas, the globe was displaced out of the orbit by the attached tumor, causing extreme proptosis. Computed tomography was virtually diagnostic, showing a variegated orbital mass with solid and cystic components. Histologic examination showed multiple tissues derived from two or three germinal layers. The surgical removal of the tumors and reasons for the poor visual outcome are discussed. The appearance of teratomas in the orbit and other cephalic structures appears to arise from the survival and proliferation of germ cells deposited there during embryogenesis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, University of South Florida Medical Center, College of Medicine, Tampa 33612.
authors.forename: A H
authors.initials: AH
authors.lastname: Weiss
authors.forename: M J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Greenwald
authors.forename: C E
authors.initials: CE
authors.lastname: Margo
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Myers
mesh_terms: D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008444:Maxillary Sinus Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D009361:Neoplasm Invasiveness; D009915:Orbit / Q000473:pathology; D009918:Orbital Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D010255:Paranasal Sinus Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D013724:Teratoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging / Q000473:pathology* / Q000601:surgery; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed