Unusual gastric tumour in an adolescent: primary gastric teratoma

Gastric teratoma is a rare entity beyond infancy and usually presents as a slow-growing asymptomatic abdominal mass. There are a few published reports of these tumours seen in patients beyond the age of 1 year. In resource-constrained population, these masses are usually neglected because of minimal symptoms associated with these tumours. We report a case of a 14-year-old adolescent who was diagnosed to have a large primary gastric teratoma and underwent en bloc excision with wedge resection of the stomach. A systematic review to identify the previously reported cases of primary gastric teratoma in patients of over the age of 1 year in last 50 years yielded only five articles. A high index of suspicion for primary gastric teratomas in young children and adolescents presenting with asymptomatic large abdominal masses would help treat these patients with a curative intent and excellent treatment outcomes.