CEREBRAL TERATOMA ASSOCIATED WITH EPIGNATHUS IN A NEWBORN INFANT.

Abstract

T h e associat ion of a n in t rac ran ia l t e r a t o m a wi th an ep igna thus is u n c o m m o n in the newborn in fan t and only ~ cases have been repor ted previously2 ,6 This is the repor t of an addi t iona l case. A t e r a t o m a is b o t h a t u m o u r and a congeni ta l mal format ion , composed of adu l t and embryonic t issues of different types, which m a y or m a y not be foreign to the pa r t s where i t is found. An epign a t h u s is a t e r a t o m a a t t ached to the roof of the m o u t h or pharynx . I n a review of the l i te ra ture on the subjec t of in t rac ran ia l t e r a t o m a of the newborn, Greenhouse and Neubuerge r 5 found ~5 cases reported. T h e y divided these in to three groups (Table 1) : 1) The largest consis ted of s t i l lbir ths and all except in the case repor ted b y Kraus , 6 were hydrocephal ics . 2) t tydrocepha l ics who died shor t ly af ter b i r th . 3) I n f an t s appa ren t ly normal a t b i r t h who, wi th in weeks, p resen ted a gradual en la rgement of the head. The sex ra t io was 1~ females to 6 males ; the sex was no t recorded in the o ther 7 cases. This repor t is concerned wi th a case of epign a t h u s associated wi th a cerebral t e ra toma . The la t t e r revealed itself as a calcified in t racerebra l zone on radiological examina t ion of the foetal head.