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Correspondence to Professor Latha Ganti; [email protected]
Description
A 20-year-old man presented to the emergency department with a sore throat and general malaise for 2 days. On evaluation, an incidental bifurcated uvula was noted without any acute oropharyngeal abnormalities (figure 1). He reported the bifurcated uvula was likely congenital as his parents were informed of it shortly after his birth.
The patient denied any relevant medical history or any other known abnormalities since birth. A rapid group A streptococcus test was performed in the emergency department, which was negative. The patient was discharged with return precautions and primary care follow-up.
A bifid uvula or bifurcated uvula is a uvula with a visible cleft. While prevalence rates ranging from 0.18% to 10.3% have been documented throughout existing literature, with higher rates in South and East Asians and lower rates in Africans, the condition is often diagnosed and corrected in infancy and rarely found in adults.1–3 Though typically a benign finding with no consequence on airway integrity, a cleft uvula, along with nasal intonation, can indicate a submucosal cleft palate.4 Moreover, it has been...