CASE-REPORT - A PRETERM INFANT WITH AN EXTRADURAL MYXOPAPILLARY EPENDYMOMA COMPONENT OF A TERATOMA AND HIGH-LEVELS OF ALPHA-FETOPROTEIN

The sacrococcygeal region may be the origin of germinal tumors, of par agangliomas, and, rarely, of extradural myxopapillary ependymomas (MPE ) in the newborn and child. A case is presented of a preterm child wit h an abdominal tumor, originating from the precoccygeal area, that tur ned out to be a teratoma with a component of an MPE. The high levels o f alpha-fetoprotein in this preterm baby were initially misleadingly i nterpreted as a tumoral marker. The differential diagnosis and the dif ficulties in interpreting tumoral markers in infants are discussed.