Life-threatening mediastinal teratoma in a neonate

 This report describes a newborn with a large mediastinal teratoma (MT) presenting with severe respiratory distress (RD) at birth. At operation, there was no space for dissection because the huge cystic and solid tumor completely occupied the left hemithorax. After evacuation of the cystic component, the tumor was removed successfully. To our knowledge, only 16 newborn infants with MT presenting with RD have been reported. Operative morbidities occurred in one-half of the cases. We have reviewed the literature to discuss the potential risks of this entity. Accepted: 17 February 2000