Congenital tumor of the oral cavity – epulis neonatorum. Case report

Abstract

A newborn baby with congenital epulis can be a startling sight for both parents and medics involved in the care of a neonate. These benign neonatal tumours can be exceptionally big, occupying a significant portion of the oral cavity and posing a risk of airway obstruction and significantly hindering feeding. Prenatal diagnosis remains difficult due to late tumour development and non-specific findings (ultrasound/MRI). The treatment of choice remains surgical excision of the tumour. In our report, we present a description of two cases of neonates operated at the Department of Pediatric Otorhinolaryngology of the Medical University of Warsaw, at the turn of 2020/2021. In both cases the diagnosis was made at birth and histopathological examination confirmed the diagnosis of congenital granular cell tumour (CGCT). The growths were excised under general anaesthesia with a good postoperative outcome, which allowed oral feeding on the second postoperative day.