CASE HISTORY

A woman aged 63 was accidentally found to have an abdominal tumour while under anaesthetic following injury in an air-raid. Apart from intermittent attacks of abdominal distention and slight discomfort, she was free of symptoms. She was unmarried and postmenopausal. On examination there was a firm smooth cystic swelling the size of a seven months pregnancy, not obviously arising from the pelvis and freely mobile in all directions in the lower abdomen.

PATHOLOGY

The specimen was a large cyst of the left ovary, 15cm in diameter and 2,234g in weight. Of this 1964g consisted of sebaceous material mixed with light brown hair. On one side was a raised pyramidal ridge bearing three fully-formed teeth on a central cylinder of bone.