A case of intraocular yolk sac tumor in a child and its pathogenesis

J AAPOS. 2009 Dec;13(6):613-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jaapos.2009.09.016.

Abstract

While yolk sac tumor is one of the most common malignant germ cell tumors occurring in young children, it is rarely found in extragonadal sites. We report a case of intraocular yolk sac tumor in a 4-year-old boy. The diagnosis was confirmed by histologic examination and by the rapid normalization of serum alpha-fetoprotein level following enucleation. We propose that yolk sac cells can potentially migrate into the eye at 22 days of embryonic life during neural tube formation, when the head and tail of the neuropore open contemporaneously and communicate with the amniotic cavity.

Publication types

  • Case Reports

MeSH terms

  • Child, Preschool
  • Choroid Neoplasms / blood
  • Choroid Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging
  • Choroid Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Endodermal Sinus Tumor / blood
  • Endodermal Sinus Tumor / diagnostic imaging
  • Endodermal Sinus Tumor / pathology*
  • Eye Enucleation
  • Humans
  • Immunoenzyme Techniques
  • Male
  • Optic Nerve Neoplasms / blood
  • Optic Nerve Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging
  • Optic Nerve Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Retinal Neoplasms / blood
  • Retinal Neoplasms / diagnostic imaging
  • Retinal Neoplasms / pathology*
  • Tomography, X-Ray Computed
  • alpha-Fetoproteins / analysis

Substances

  • alpha-Fetoproteins