Teratoma of the tongue in neonates: report of a case and review of the literature

A female newborn presented with a huge mass protruding from the mouth. She had no respiratory distress but had difficulty swallowing. The mass origina ted from the tongue and was completely extirpated on the day of birth. The histologic diagnosis was mature teratoma. Three days later, another mass me asuring 1 cm in diameter was found attached to the upper pharyngeal wall an d was also completely extirpated 20 days after birth. The histologic diagno sis was also mature teratoma. The infant had a complete cleft palate, but n o other malformation was found. Two years after surgery there is no sign of recurrence.