Nasopalatine duct cyst
DESCRIPTION: This developmental cyst forms from remnants of the nasopalatine duct, in the incisive canal in the midline of the anterior maxilla. The cyst may overlap the roots of the maxillary central incisor teeth. It is usually asymptomatic and discovered on routine dental films where it appears as an oval or heart-shaped radiolucent lesion. Rarely this cyst will expand overlying mucosa. It does not interfere with tooth vitality and seldom causes root resorption. It maybe found in edentulous patients. This cyst is differentiated from other cysts by the histologic presence of respiratory epithelium and the presence of nerves and muscular arteries in the wall.
ETIOLOGY: This is a developmental cyst presumably arising from epithelial remnants of the nasopalatine duct.
TREATMENT: Surgical enucleation.
PROGNOSIS: Good
DIFFERENTIAL DIAGNOSIS: Radicular cyst, keratocyst, and central bone tumors.
