CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians, Vol 19, 344-351, Copyright
© 1969 by American Cancer Society
Benign and Malignant Sacrococcygeal Teratomas
William L. Donnellan M.D.1 and
Orvar Swenson M.D.2
1 Attending Surgeon, The Children's Memorial Hospital, and Assistant Professor of Surgery, Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Illinois.
2 Surgeon-in-Chief, The Children's Memorial Hospital, and Professor of Surgery, Northwestern University Medical School.
Sacrococcygeal tumors which are present at birth are usually benign. If the growth appears after two months of age, however, it is almost always malignant. Symptoms of bowel or bladder dysfunction increase the likelihood that the tumor is malignant.
The coccyx must be removed in every case. If this is not done the recurrence rate is 31.3 percent.
During dissection for removal of the benign teratomas, all muscle must be scrupulously preserved. Both the levator ani and the gluteus muscles are stretched and thinned by the tumor growth. If portions of these muscles are excised with the tumor, serious cosmetic and functional defects may occur.
