Abstract
Holoprosencephaly is a group of disorders characterized by failure of differentiation and cleavage of the prosencephalon. Because this shows various clinical symptoms including craniofacial malformation and mental retardation, dental treatment for this disorder needs special care such as intravenous sedation or general anesthesia.
We report a case of holoprosencephaly with severe mental retardation, cleft lip and palate, defects of the nasal septum, and epilepsy, who underwent dental treatment under intravenous sedation.
The patient, a 22-year-old female, was diagnosed as holoprosencephaly at birth. Because she had dental phobia with difficulty in communication, intravenous sedation was necessary for computed tomography scan and dental treatment.
Eventually, we could perform computed tomography scanning of the head, scaling, and tooth extraction during three visits without complications.
Although the nasal cavity and oral cavity were connected in this patient, side effects such as coughing due to water or secretion did not occur during the treatment. Furthermore, this patient could breathe through the nose, and oxygenation through the nose was useful for preventing respiratory depression and airway obstruction during intravenous sedation.
