{"id":3859,"date":"2018-02-06T12:54:00","date_gmt":"2018-02-06T17:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mindonmed.com\/?p=3859"},"modified":"2018-02-09T12:39:39","modified_gmt":"2018-02-09T17:39:39","slug":"what-is-an-ovarian-dermoid-and-why-does-it-grow-teeth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/old.mindonmed.com\/2018\/02\/what-is-an-ovarian-dermoid-and-why-does-it-grow-teeth.html","title":{"rendered":"What is an Ovarian Dermoid and Why Does It Grow Teeth!?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Photo Credit CMDRC.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

My first experience with an ovarian dermoid tumor was in medical school. I saw a picture in our text book and was immediately repulsed – how can something that creepy be a real-life finding?!<\/p>\n

Though the tumors continue to be one of the stranger pathologies I deal with, the repulsion-factor has subsided. So, what in the heck is an ovarian dermoid and why would an ovary have teeth inside it?<\/p>\n

What I’m calling a “dermoid” is just another name for the most common type of ovarian germ cell tumor, in textbooks it will usually be called a mature teratoma. Dermoid came about in modern medicine after the discovery that dermal elements frequently predominate the tumors.<\/p>\n

The origination of the word teratoma is from the Greek word\u00a0teras<\/em>, which means\u00a0monster<\/strong>. Since they can contain fully formed teeth, bone, hair, and other weirdness, it is not hard to figure out why this would have been the name people gave it way back before we knew about how the out-of-place tissue got there.<\/p>\n

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READ. THIS. BOOK!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you haven’t read the book “Brain on Fire”<\/a> by Susannah Cahalan you need to get your hands on it. We read it for book club in residency and all the spouses enjoyed it as well, it’s definitely not targeted at medical audiences.\"\"\u00a0Dermoid tumors are occasionally (rarely) associated with an unusual condition called NMDA-Receptor Encephalitis and this is a fascinating and well-written memoir by a New York Post reporter documenting her long and life-threatening journey to this diagnosis.<\/p>\n

Pathophysiology, Diagnosis, Treatment…<\/h2>\n

Dermoids are neoplasms which arise from primordial germ cells and there are several types of teratomas. For<\/span> board exam purposes, here’s some broad, quick,<\/span> key-word references:<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n