Mature cystic ovarian teratoma

Discussion:

The displayed ovarian mass was removed and the anatomopathological study confirmed the existence of a mature ovarian teratoma with areas of hemorrhage, along with an abundant pilous component. The patient presented with elevation of CA 125 and CA 15-3 tumor markers.

This case contains a striking example of pareidolia; a psychological phenomenon wherein a stimulus (an image in this case) is perceived to contain a familiar pattern of something (in this case a Poké Ball) where none actually exists. This phenomenon is encountered not infrequently in radiology, and in fact Radiopaedia has an article entitled Rorschach radiology which is dedicated to it!

As far as we know, this case is the first one to ever describe the similarity between a mature cystic ovarian teratoma with floating central ball and a Poké Ball.

Aside from the pareidolia, this case is an excellent example of a mature cystic teratoma appearance on CT, and in particular it highlights how large ovarian masses can cause ovarian torsion which is a surgical emergency. 

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