[Melkersson-Rosenthal syndrome]

Abstract

Melkersson-Rosenthal's syndrome is characterized by recurrent or persistent oedema of the lips or the face; the fissured tongue, and intermittent paralysis of the facial nerve. Oligosymptomatic forms are more common than the triad. The syndrome is rarely encountered, it is aetiologycally obscure, the laboratory findings are not specific, but differential diagnosis is very complex, especially in conditions of recurrent and hereditary angioedema. The authors report two cases of the syndrome: the first with the triad and mild neurological symptoms, and the second with two syndrome elements, oedema of the lips and the fissured tongue. Pathohistological results of the biopsy samples of oral mucosa revealed the advanced phase with granulomatous lesions in one case, and early phase with oedema of the connective tissue and perivascular lymphocyte infiltration in the second. Allergic genesis was ruled out, based on negative results of numerous laboratory and clinical tests. Glycocorticoid therapy with antihistaminics and anabolica resulted in clinical improvement.