Embryology: germ cell tumours: practice question

The best answer is D, Remnants of pluripotent cells of the primitive streak. Sacrococcygeal teratoma arises from pluripotent cells of the primitive streak that persist in the caudal region, and it can contain tissues from all three germ layers.

Neural crest cells give neuroblastoma and melanocytic tumours, not teratomas.

Caudal neuropore failure gives a spinal defect such as meningomyelocele, not a teratoma.

Notochord remnants give chordomas, a different tumour.

It tests Embryology: germ cell tumours in Anatomy. It is the commonest tumour of the newborn and is more frequent in girls. Notochord remnants give chordoma, and neural tube defects give myelomeningocele.

We tag it as an application question: it asks you to use a fact on a patient or a finding. The tag is our own editorial judgement, not an official difficulty rating, so read the reason for every option, not only the answer.

Learn every nerve by its route, its muscles and what a lesion looks like at the bedside. That one habit answers a large share of questions. Then use the flashcards and the other Anatomy questions on this site to test what stuck.

No. It is an original practice item (editorial status: sample, version 1). NextPrep does not publish recalled or leaked questions, and independent faculty review of this item has not been completed yet, so confirm important facts in a standard textbook.