Asymptomatic posterior mediastinal teratoma diagnosed incidentally

We present a young patient with occasional chest pain and an incidentally found posterior mediastinal mass on radiology which was confirmed as mature teratoma on histopathology. The gross specimen received in the department of pathology was globular measuring 9.0×7.0×5.5 cm and varying in consistency from soft cystic to firm. Cut surface showed numerous hair entangled in pultaceous material. Representative sections were taken and stained with H&E stain. Histopathology revealed haphazardly distributed mature derivatives of all the three germ layers comprising of epidermis, pilo sebaceous units, nerve bundles (ectodermal), cartilage, bone, salivary gland clusters, blood vessels, muscle bundles, fibrous tissue infiltrated by foreign body giant cells, lymphoid follicles (mesodermal) and pseudostratified columnar epithelium (mesodermal), thus establishing the diagnosis of mature teratoma.