Mediastinal cystic teratoma misdiagnosed as pleural tuberculosis: A case report and review of 53 cases revealed by pleural effusion

Abstract

Mediastinal teratoma (MT) can be misdiagnosed for a long period and revealed by fatal pleural effusion at any age. In high burden tuberculosis settings, it is important to consider MT for extra‐pulmonary tuberculosis not responding to medical treatment.

Mediastinal teratoma in children: A case series of misdiagnoses in a high-endemic tuberculosis setting

“…Histopathological examination is needed to confirm diagnosis [ 6 ]. Due to its non-specific symptoms, several cases of teratoma have been misdiagnosed as neuroblastoma, pleural tuberculosis, thymoma, and empyema [ [7] , [8] , [9] ]. Due to the proximity of important thoracic structures, surgical resection is challenging [ 10 ], but the postoperative prognosis of mature teratomas is generally good in children, with a survival rate exceeding 96 % [ 11 ].…”