Duplication of the pituitary and stomatodaeal structures in A 38-week male infant

Abstract

Duplication of the hypophysis and parts of the upper and lower jaws of a 38-week male infant are described. Considerable masses of adeno-hypophyseal tissue were found in the roof of the mouth in positions corresponding to the stem regions of two Rathke's pouches. An embryological explanation of the likely chain of events leading up to the conditions observed at birth is offered. This postulates that a transitory duplication of the anterior end of the inductor system for the head region occurred at about the fifteenth to sixteenth day of pregnancy, and led to the production of two primitive oral openings around which relatively normal development took place.