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.