Oral teratoma: a case report and literature review

Abstract

Teratomas are true neoplasms composed of tissues from all three germinal layers. They have an unknown origin and eccentric microscopic appearance. Teratomas arising from the oral cavity are rare in the newborn; only 13 cases have been reported in the literature. We describe a male neonate with an oral teratoma originating from the anterior hard palate that was successfully treated with surgery.

Oropharyngeal Tumor in the Newborn: A Case Report

“…In this case, the tumor was not prenatally diagnosed. In a review by Cay et al [1] , 11 out of 14 oral teratomas had not been diagnosed until birth, even when the mothers had regular prenatal ultrasonography and the infants had a sizable tumor in the oral cavity. There was massive polyhydramnios noticed at the time of delivery in our case.…”

“…Epignathus is a misnomer, and its etymological meaning is 'upon the jaw'. However, it has been used for almost every teratoma of the oral cavity and pharyngeal tissues as well as for teratomas protruding from the mouth [1,6] . Some authors, employing Arnold's classification of teratomas, classify the lesion found in this case as a dermoid [2] .…”

“…There was massive polyhydramnios noticed at the time of delivery in our case. A history of polyhydramnios is not uncommon in oropharyngeal tumors and has been suggested to be due to impaired ingestion of amniotic fluid in utero [1,2,6,7] . Most hairy polyps present as a single pedunculated mass with the stalk attached to the oropharyngeal wall.…”

“…2 cm mass attached to the peduncle (arrowhead) with hair-covered skin (arrow). inating from the tongue or the hard palate [1] . This case report adds to this literature focusing upon a newborn infant born with an oropharyngeal dermond, which is also known as a 'hairy polyp' and sometimes viewed as a congenital anomaly or choristoma rather than a true teratoma [2,5] .…”

“…Neonatal oropharyngeal tumors are exceptionally rare with a reported incidence of 1 in 12,500-27,500 live births, representing only 2% of childhood malignancies [1] . Most oropharyngeal tumors are teratomas, which are She returned for a follow up visit 1 week later and was assessed to be a normal healthy infant.…”