title: Traumatic Rupture of A Posterior Mediastinal Teratoma following Motor-Vehicle Accident.
abstract: We report a case of a posterior mediastinal mature cystic teratoma with rupture secondary to blunt chest trauma in a 20-year-old male involved in a motor-vehicle accident. Initial treatment was guided by Advanced Trauma Life Support and a tube thoracostomy was performed for presumed hemothorax. The heterogeneous collection within the thoracic cavity was discovered to be the result of a ruptured cystic mass. Pathologic findings confirmed the mass consistent with a mature cystic teratoma. As mediastinal teratomas are most commonly described arising from the anterior mediastinum, the posterior location of the teratoma described in this report is exceedingly rare.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Tennessee College of Medicine, 979 East Third Street, Suite C720, Chattanooga, TN 37404, USA.
authors.forename: Christopher
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Bell
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Tennessee College of Medicine, 979 East Third Street, Suite C720, Chattanooga, TN 37404, USA.
authors.forename: Fernando
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Domingo
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Tennessee College of Medicine, 979 East Third Street, Suite C720, Chattanooga, TN 37404, USA.
authors.forename: Ashley D
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-8525-3127
authors.initials: AD
authors.lastname: Miller
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Tennessee College of Medicine, 979 East Third Street, Suite C720, Chattanooga, TN 37404, USA.
authors.forename: Jeremiah S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Tennessee College of Medicine, 979 East Third Street, Suite C720, Chattanooga, TN 37404, USA.
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Headrick