1.What is ovarian teratoma? Ovarian teratoma is a common type of ovarian germ cell tumor. It is not a tumor that evolves after a woman is pregnant with a strange child, but comes from the abnormal proliferation of germ cells and is a tumor that grows in the ovary formed by the abnormal proliferation and aggregation of germ cells. Because germ cells contain three types of tissues: ectodermal, mesodermal and endodermal, the tumor may contain ectodermal tissues such as hair, oil, skin, teeth and bone fragments, and may also contain mesodermal or endodermal tissues such as muscle, gastrointestinal and thyroid tissues. There are several types of ovarian teratoma, including mature teratoma and immature teratoma. Among them, 97% are cystic mature teratomas, also called dermatomal cysts, most of which are benign tumors and often have very good surgical results! Immature teratoma is mostly malignant teratoma possible because the growing cells are immature and do not form mature tissues, such as hair, teeth, etc. They are often solid masses, and more care should be taken when operating on such masses so as not to break the tumor and the contents flow into the abdominal cavity and cause recurrence, and chemotherapy if necessary. Because ultrasound is not traumatic to the body, and based on the fact that teratoma shows a variety of characteristic echogenicity on ultrasound: such as indistinguishable type, cystoid type, doughnut sign, hair doughnut sign, comet sign, lipid stratification, etc., it is generally not difficult to make a diagnosis on ultrasound, but there are still a few cases that can be misdiagnosed or missed during ultrasound examination because of the complexity of the sonogram, which is difficult to identify, and some of them are similar to the sonogram of other tumors of the ovary. “ 2.Who do ovarian teratomas occur in and is there any relationship with sexual life? When a young girl quietly enters puberty, some of the primitive cells in the ovary under the action of reproductive endocrine, abnormal differentiation occurs and teratoma is formed. Therefore, ovarian teratoma is more likely to occur in adolescent females, and adolescent patients account for about 60%-90% of the incidence of ovarian teratoma. The occurrence of ovarian teratoma has nothing to do with the presence or absence of sexual life, the tumor is caused by tumor changes in the cells of the ovary. 3.Why ovarian teratoma is prone to tumor torsion? Because the tissue components in the tumor are many and mixed, grease and hair are light, teeth and bones are dense and heavy, resulting in unbalanced density of the tumor, and the center of gravity is biased to one side. When the tumor grows to a medium size of adult’s hand and fist, when the patient suddenly changes the position or continuously rotates in a certain direction, the tumor with the center of gravity on one side will continue to rotate due to inertial movement, causing the tumor to twist. At this time, the patient may experience sudden and severe pain in one side of lower abdomen, mostly persistent, often accompanied by nausea, vomiting and other symptoms, and even shock. 4.Will ovarian teratoma surgery affect future fertility? When a young girl has her ovaries removed due to a tumor, patients and parents are concerned about the effect of ovarian removal on marriage and childbirth. In fact, this concern is unnecessary. Even if one ovary is removed due to disease, the other ovary can still produce enough sex hormones to meet the needs of marriage and childbirth. In addition, in some cases, the tumor can be peeled off from the ovary, preserving the function of the ovary, so it usually does not affect fertility. 5.What other parts of the body can teratoma occur? Teratomas are usually found in the adnexal region of the pelvis, anterior and middle mediastinum and retroperitoneal space, and rarely in the skull, nasal cavity, bladder, adrenal glands and other areas.