LYMPHANGIOMA OF THE TONGUE: CASE REPORT

Introduction. Lymphangiomas are uncommon congenital hamartomas of the lymphatic system, usually diagnosed in infancy and early childhood. Commonly located at head, neck extremities and genitals, they are rarely situated in the oral cavity. Pre- ferred site of oral involvement is the tongue. The authors present a case of lymphangioma of the tongue treated with laser therapy. Case report. The patient was a 7 years old female, that came to us for right upper quadrant abdominal pain. On examination we found the median lesion of the tongue in absence of symptoms. Thyroid scan was performed to exclude the presence of ectopic thyroid. Surgery was performed by excision of the lesion with CO2 20 W by trans-oral laser therapy. The anatamo- pathological report posed diagnosis of lymphangioma. The follow-up to 8 months is in the norm: the aesthetic results are ex- cellent and the patient doesn’t report any symptoms. Conclusion. This case had a very rare site of occurrence, the tongue, and was successfully managed with laser therapy. This surgical technique is very unusual among the various types of interventions but it allows good aesthetic results and good radical surgical excision, preserving vital structure.