Dr. Randeep Singhalmost 8 years ago

Teeth in brain

A 4-month-old infant in Maryland was found to have teeth form in his brain as a result of a specific type of rare brain tumor. The child underwent brain surgery to have the tumor removed, during which doctors found that the tumor contained several fully formed teeth, according to a report of the case. After an analysis of tumor tissue, doctors determined the child had a craniopharyngioma, a rare brain tumor that can grow to be larger than a golf ball, but does not spread. Researchers had always suspected that these tumors form from the same cells involved in making teeth, but until now, doctors had never seen actual teeth in these tumors, said Dr. Narlin Beaty, a neurosurgeon at the University of Maryland Medical Center.