Abstract
A rare case of cleft palate combined with nasopharyngeal teratoma is reported.
The patient was a six-month-old girl. The tumor was in the nasopharyngeal cavity, and was visible through the cleft of the palate. It was consisted of two approximately spherical parts: a solid anterior part and a cystic posterior part. It was slightly mobile and not adhering to the palate.
Preoperative CT scanning revealed a tumor which showed partial bonely density region in the nasopharyngeal cavity.
Complete surgical removal was performed under general anesthesia, confirming the presence of the tumor in the nasopharyngeal cavity, and revealing its stalk within the remnant of Rathke's pouch.
After removal, the tumor was diagnosed histologically as a teratoma because of its two germinal layers: mesoderm (bone, cartilage, bone marrow), and ectoderm (central nervous tissue and mucous gland).
The remnant of Rathke's pouch observed during the operation drew some embryological in terest in the cosideration of the origin of the tumor.
Prevention by the teratome of palatal fusion was considered to have been the reason for the incomplete cleft palate.
