Prolonged Cough and Exercise Dyspnea: Teratoma in Lungs

Teratoma is a rare tumor derived from pluripotent stem cells accounting for 10%-15% of the mediastinal tumors and are the most common subtypes of germ cells which undergo impaired migration during the embryonic developmental period. Teratomas are indemnified by the presence of the tissue from at least two embryonic germ layers and thus, the migration of these pluripotent cells along the lung bud can lead to intrapulmonary mass with or without mediastinal involvement. In the current report, the case of a 26-year-old woman was presented who was diagnosed with chronic cough from her childhood. The patient had no previous surgery. She mainly complained about cough and sputum production during her childhood period (10-12 years old) which failed to respond to conventional treatment. The 3-year post-operative follow-up indicated no pulmonary symptoms or signs in this patient. In general, the anatomical location of teratoma is associated with several challenges while this tumor demonstrates different symptoms. The histopathological diagnosis of teratoma includes germ cells and other non–germ cells. Therefore, surgical resection is considered the optimal treatment for this tumor since it cannot respond to chemotherapy. Finally, lung teratoma has multifaceted challenges including histopathological diagnosis and therefore, surgery is regarded as the optimal modality of treatment.