Abdominal computed tomography in teratoma of the testis: its accuracy in stage I disease and an assessment of the distribution of retroperitoneal lymph-node metastases in other stages of the disease.

One hundred and one patients with Stage I teratoma of the testis have had an abdomino-pelvic computed tomography (CT) scan. These patients have been followed up for a minimum of 18 months and only eight patients have relapsed in the abdomen alone. The abdomino-pelvic CT scan has a negative predictive value of 92%. In those shown by CT to have retroperitoneal lymphadenopathy, the distribution of disease correlates closely with that reported in the literature following retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy. The CT scan provides information about the amount of tumour present and this influences treatment. Computed tomography is the imaging modality of choice for staging patients with teratoma of the testis and invasive techniques do not appear to be justified.