A sacrococcygeal teratoma / SCT is a tumor that develops in a baby in utero. It appears in the lower dorsum and buttocks of a baby at the base of the tailbone (coccyx). Some tumors are diagnosed in utero, others at birth.

Sacrococcygeal teratomas / SCTs are rare, occurring in about one in 35,000-forty,000 births. Even so, in newborns with tumors, they are one of the most mutual types to develop. Females are four times more than likely than males to be affected by these tumors. The cause of SCT is not known.

An SCT is a tumor that grows from germ cells, which are the same cells that requite rise to a sperm or an egg. These tumors are made upwards of cells that tin resemble whatsoever type of tissue in the trunk such as bone, nerve, teeth, muscle, and and then on. These tumors tin abound fast and get very large. They can be located both inside and outside the pelvis of a baby.

If your babe develops this blazon of tumor, you lot likely will not experience any symptoms early in the pregnancy. Later, the baby can develop disease quite rapidly and become very sick. In some instances, the mother can develop "maternal mirror syndrome" and get very ill likewise.

Tumor Classification

Sacrococcygeal teratomas / SCTs are grouped according to the corporeality of tumor nowadays inside and/or outside the baby.

  • Type Itumors are completely external (outside the body) and hands identified during a prenatal ultrasound or at nativity.
  • Blazon IItumors are mostly external only a portion is inside the body.
  • Type Iii tumors are mostly internal but a portion is outside the trunk.
  • Blazon IVtumors are completely inside the baby's body and cannot be viewed externally. They are commonly recognized belatedly, and they have the highest rate of malignancy.

Most SCTs are beneficial (not cancerous).