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September 2004
By Theodore E . Keats, MD
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This 40-year-old woman is being evaluated after a motor
vehicle crash. What is your impression of the density
seen in the left side of the pelvis?
CLICK HERE FOR ANSWER
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ANSWER
The correct diagnosis is dermoid cyst or teratoma of
the ovary. The calcific densities represent teeth, which
are pathognomonic of this diagnosis. Dermoid cysts can
contain enough fat to make them relatively radiolucent,
although that finding is not present in this case. The
only possible confusion in radiologic diagnosis would
result from traumatic loss of a tooth and its ingestion
and transit in the bowel.
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This series of diagnostic quizzes that
challenge your ability to read a variety of x-ray films is
edited by Dr. Keats, alumni professor of radiology at the
University of Virginia School of Medicine in Charlottesville.
Emerg Med 36(9):55, 2004
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