The mother of a 9-month-old female infant complained that
her child was unable to pass urine at the same time noticing
a mass protruding from the vaginal orifice.The infant had a
single episode of vaginal bleeding.The primary concern of
the mother was the inability of the daughter to micturate.
Malignant germ cell tumour arising from an infant vagina is
rare and accounts for about 3% of all paedriatic
malignancies. These are also referred to as endodermal
sinus tumours or yolk sac tumours, and are mostly the
commonest form of infant vaginal malignancies
encountered. A diagnosis of endodermal sinus tumour was
established based on the histology and raised α-fetoprotein
levels.These tumours had Schiller-Duval bodies which are
primarily blood vessels surrounded by primordial germ cells
and were periodic acid shift (PAS) positive diastase resistant
hyaline globules which also stain positive with αfetoprotein which is an important diagnostic feature.
Tumours with high α-fetoprotein levels have a poorer
prognosis. However, they respond satisfactorily to
chemotherapy