Antenatal sonographic diagnosis of epignathus at 15 weeks of pregnancy

Abstract

Epignathus is a rare, benign, congenital teratoma of the hard palate. Most of these teratomas are unidirectional and protrude through the mouth. Hence, the prognosis depends on the size of the tumor and the degree of face distortion and airway obstruction that it causes. However, some epignathi protrude bidirectionally, involving and destroying the brain tissue, resulting in a poor prognosis. This report presents a case of ultrasonographic detection of a bidirectional epignathus at 15 weeks of pregnancy.

Antenatal 3‐dimensional sonographic diagnosis of fetal oropharyngeal teratoma

“…7,8 It is imperative that these patients be referred to a tertiary care facility for a carefully planned delivery. The mortality rate during delivery ranges from 80% to 100%.…”

Prenatal diagnosis and management of fetal pharyngeal teratoma: A case report and review of the literature

“…15 The diagnosis can be made in the first trimester if an early sonographic examination, especially with transvaginal sonography, is performed. An extremely rare form of epignathus in which a fetiform mass is connected to the teratoma may mimic an acardiac amorphus twin or a malformed fetus of a twin pregnancy.…”

Neonatal Epignathus with Cleft Palate: A Case Report

“…Epignathus is a rare, benign, nasopharyngeal teratoma that around 150 cases have been reported in the literature so far (1,5). Epignathus arises from the upper jaw and often pack the oral cavity resulting neonatal problems: aspiration pneumonia, difficulty of decannulation for subglottic stenosis, disorder of articulation and feeding (3, 9, 11) .…”