title: Teratomas in adult Nigerians.
abstract: Over a six-year period, 132 teratomas were seen at the Ahmadu Bello University Hospital in Zaria, Nigeria. Twenty-seven of these, comprising most of the extragonadal tumours were seen in infants and children. Of the 105 tumours found in adults, ninety-four were benign cystic teratomas of the ovary occurring mostly in the third and fourth decades of life. There were three instances of malignant transformation of a previously benign cystic ovarian teratoma and four cases of struma ovarii, one of which was admixed with trabecular carcinoid but none of which was associated with hyperthyroidism or carcinoma. This study confirms the rarity in adult Nigerians of the following tumours each of which occurred only once in the series: mediastinal, solid ovarian teratoma, testicular and sacrococcygeal teratoma. The latter two were malignant and the sacrococcygeal tumour has been reclassified as an endodermal sinus tumour.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D003050:Coccyx; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008479:Mediastinal Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009549:Nigeria; D010051:Ovarian Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D012447:Sacrum; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013125:Spinal Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology*; D013724:Teratoma / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D013736:Testicular Neoplasms / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology