Gastric teratoma

　　How is gastric teratoma caused? Briefly described as follows:

　　1. Etiology

　　The etiology of gastric teratoma has not been elucidated. However, it is generally believed that it is different from teratomas originating from any part of the body, as it is not related to the vertebral body axis, embryonic body wall, and thoracic and abdominal cavities, but originates from the visceral wall. This may be the reason why teratomas in other parts are malignant in about 1/4 of cases, while gastric teratomas are usually benign.

　　2. Pathogenesis

　　Like teratomas in other parts, gastric teratomas contain three germ layers, most of which are mature tissues, but some neural tissues show primitive immature structures. Unlike the general belief that this disease is benign and progresses from benign to malignant, although immature neural tissues are usually seen, a few pathological reports indicate immature teratoma, but all are confirmed to be benign in clinical practice, and simple tumor resection has a good effect without chemotherapy.

　　Tumors growing outward from the stomach in gastric teratoma can cause compression, displacement, and deformation of the stomach. Teratomas are usually solitary and independent diseases, but some cases may still be associated with congenital malformations.

　　The clinical manifestations of gastric teratoma are mainly abdominal mass (75%), mostly located in the upper left abdomen; abdominal distension (56%); vomiting (18%); hematemesis and/or melena (15%); respiratory distress (15%); anemia (12%).

　　How to prevent gastric teratoma? Briefly described as follows:

　　In daily life, attention should be paid to reasonable nutrition, with food as diverse as possible. Eat more high-protein, high-vitamin, low-animal-fat, easily digestible foods, as well as fresh fruits and vegetables. Avoid eating stale, deteriorated, or刺激性 things, eat less smoked, roasted, pickled, fried, or salty foods. Mix coarse and fine grains for staple foods to ensure nutritional balance.

　　What examinations should be done for gastric teratoma? Briefly described as follows:

　　1. X-ray examination

　　1. Abdominal plain film shows unevenly increased density shadows in the upper middle abdomen or the entire abdomen. The boundaries may be unclear, and the intestines are pushed towards the right lower anterior position. Linear or granular calcification shadows can be seen within the tumor shadow.

　　2. Barium meal radiography shows compression and deformation of the gastric body, with the small intestine displaced downward; there is visible filling defect in the stomach, which can also be dilated, resulting in air-liquid levels and a large amount of fluid accumulation; or the contrast agent in the stomach can be distributed along the tumor and can also accumulate between the lobes of the tumor.

　　3. Barium enema shows compression and downward displacement of the transverse colon, descending colon, and sigmoid colon, with a large dense shadow visible in the upper abdomen.

　　4. Renal pelvis venography shows downward displacement of the left renal pelvis, and indentation may appear at the superior margin of the bladder.

　　Second, ultrasonic examination

　　It presents various echo patterns, and the mass is located between the spleen and kidney when scanned across the upper left abdomen. The boundary can be clearly displayed or unclear. The mass can be multilocular lobulated, and its internal echo can be solid, multiple cystic, or mixed, and there may also be calcification foci.

　　Third, CT scan

　　The various changes are shown according to the size and location of the lesions. If the lesion is large, even occupying 4/5 of the abdominal cavity, multiple organs may be compressed and displaced. The internal structure of the lesion is disordered, the density is uneven, and it is mixed with dense shadows, and it may also be composed of solid and cystic components.

　　Fourth, gastroscopy

　　Rarely used, only can observe the size and surface condition of the gastric cavity lesions, such as bleeding, erosion, and superficial ulcers, of course, biopsy under direct vision is its advantage, but it is not much help for the diagnosis of gastric teratoma.

　　What should be paid attention to in the diet and health care of gastric teratoma? Briefly described as follows:

　　Firstly, dietary taboos for gastric teratoma

　　1. Avoid warm and activating blood foods such as mutton, dog meat, chives, and pepper.

　　2. Avoid刺激性 foods such as scallions, garlic, peppers, and cassia.

　　3. Avoid smoking and drinking.

　　4. Avoid greasy, fried, moldy, and pickled foods.

　　Secondly, foods suitable for gastric teratoma

　　1. Eat more foods with antitumor effects, such as turtles, dragon pearl tea, hippocampus, hawthorn, etc.

　　2. Hemorrhage should eat goat blood,螺蛳, cuttlefish, shrimps, vegetables, lotus root, malan head, hazelnuts, mushrooms, stone ear, persimmon cakes, etc.

　　3. Infection should eat eels, warty clams, carps, water snakes, celery, toon, sesame, buckwheat, rapeseed, mung beans, red beans, etc.

　　4. Abdominal pain and distension should eat pork kidneys, myrica, hawthorn, walnuts, chestnuts, etc. The dietary issues for ovarian teratoma cannot be generalized, and the diet requirements are different for different conditions, follow the doctor's advice.

　　Gastric teratoma is mostly benign and should be surgically removed early for a good prognosis. Long-term follow-up is required after surgery, and alpha-fetoprotein (AFP) should be re-examined regularly. If there is no decrease or the decrease is followed by an increase, it indicates recurrence or metastasis and further treatment is required.