[Teratoma of the thyroid gland in an infant].

Stridor is the major clinical sign of upper airways obstruction in children and is usually caused by various inflammatory and structural lesions of the pharynx, larynx and subglottic trachea. Rarely, this obstruction can be produced by growth of a tumour. We present a three-month-old infant with upper airways obstruction caused by thyroid teratoma. Teratomas represent 3-5% of all tumours in childhood. The main sites of these tumours are the gonads, the sacrococcygeal region and the anterior mediastinum. The neck is one of the least common sites, accounting for only about 5% of all teratomas. As opposed to adults in whom prognosis depends primarily on histologic type of the tumour, the most important prognostic factors in children are the age of the patient, localization and histologic type of the tumour. In about 30% of cases neck teratomas are associated with polyhydramnios which can be easily detected by routine ultrasound examination in pregnancy. Surgery is the treatment of choice in young children and usually no further radio- or chemotherapy is needed. Clinical diagnosis, histologic features, prognosis, management, follow-up and prenatal detection of thyroid teratoma in children are discussed in the paper.