Congenital granular cell lesion in newborn mandible

Congenital granular cell lesion (CGCL) is a rare non-neoplastic lesion found in newborns also known as Neumann’s tumor. This benign lesion occurs predominantly in females mostly as a single mass. The histogenesis and natural history of the lesion remains obscure. It arises from the mucosa of the gingiva, either from the maxillary or mandibular alveolar ridge. The lesion is more common in the maxillary alveolar ridge than the mandibular.The present report describes a case of congenital granular cell lesion in an eight-day-old female child who was born with a mass on the anterior mandibular alveolar ridge. The mass was protruding from her mouth and compromised feeding. A clinical diagnosis of teratoma was suggested. Histologically, cells of this lesion are identical to granular cell tumor (neuroectodermal type) and show intense diastase-resistant Periodic Acid Schiff positivity. Immunohistochemically, cells are positive for vimentin but negative for S-100 and desmin, thus suggesting that CGCL is possibly derived from primitive gingival mesenchymal cells rather than having schwannian origin.Key words: Congenital epulis, congenital granular cell lesion, immunohistochemistry