title: Early prenatal detection of a fast-growing fetal epignathus.
abstract: Epignathus is a rare congenital orofacial teratoma. We present a case of a fast-growing tumor, where early prenatal diagnosis was made and where fetopathological examination revealed the reason of the remarkable ultrasonographic signs and underlined the expected poor prognosis. Ultrasonographic examination at 18 weeks' gestation showed that there was a growing tumor protruding from the fetus's mouth. The fetal stomach could not be seen and extreme polyhydramnios was also detected. After counseling, the couple opted for a termination of pregnancy. Fetopathological examination showed that the tumorosus mass was not only protruding from the mouth, but also inexplicably grew downwards, was connected to the hard palate and the periosteum of the vertebral corpus, making an airway and esophageal obstruction, causing the ultrasonographic findings. Postnatal treatment and surgical removal of this tumor seemed to be impossible. In case of an early detection of a fast-growing fetal epignathus, pregnancy termination should be considered.
authors.affiliation: 1st Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Faculty of Medicine, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary. nagy.gyula@noi1.sote.hu
authors.forename: Gyula R
authors.initials: GR
authors.lastname: Nagy
authors.forename: Bence P
authors.initials: BP
authors.lastname: Neducsin
authors.forename: Levente
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lázár
authors.forename: Balázs
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Stenczer
authors.forename: Zsolt
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Csapó
authors.forename: János
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Rigó
mesh_terms: D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D011247:Pregnancy; D013724:Teratoma / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology; D016216:Ultrasonography, Prenatal; D055815:Young Adult