開咬を伴ったリンパ管腫性巨舌症の1例

抄録

Macroglossia is a clinical term denoting partial or general thickening of the tongue. This disease is known to affect jaw and facial development, occlusion, and articulation especially during patient's growth period.
We recently encountered a 4-year-old female with lymphangiomatous macroglossia who visited us with the chief symptom of thickened tongue. At the initial examination, occlusion was possible but after 90 days of conservative treatment open bite was observed. Since the tumor extended diffusely throughout the entire tongue, the tongue size was surgically reduced according to the Rheinwald and Thoma method. Immediately after the operation, the open bite with a maximum distance of 10 mm between the anterior teeth disappeared.
Lingual angiography performed in this patient demonstrated the usefulness of the procedure in differential diagnosis of this disease from hemangioma.