Congenital angiomyoma of the tongue: case report

Abstract

Angiomyomas of the oral cavity are rare benign vascular neoplasms. In particular, the congenital form has not been reported before in the English language literature. We present a congenital angiomyoma of the tongue that was found on the posterior middle of the tongue in an infant. On MRI, the mass showed an isointense signal to muscle on the T₁ weighted image and a slightly hyperintense signal on the T₂ weighted image. Immunohistochemically, tumour cells were positive to desmin and smooth muscle actin, but negative to vimentin and S100. The treatment was surgical excision and no recurrence was found during the 26 month follow-up period.

Figure 1

Pre-operative MRI. (a, b) T₁ weighted images show an isointense signal to muscle and a well-defined margin. (c, d) T₂ weighted images show a slightly hyperintense signal with a partially hyperintense rim

Figure 2

(a) The islands of tumour cells were scattered and the vessel walls were thickened (haematoxylin and eosin, original magnification ×100). (b) The smooth muscle bundles were interspersed with collagen fibres and tumour cells were spindle shaped with elongated nuclei (haematoxylin and eosin, original magnification ×200). (c) Masson trichrome staining revealed red in tumour cell nests (original magnification ×100). (d) The tumour cells were positive to desmin (original magnification ×100). (e) The tumour cells and vessel walls had a positive reaction to smooth muscle actin (original magnification ×100). (f) The tumour cells were negative to vimentin (original magnification ×100). (g) The tumour cells were negative to S100 (original magnification ×100)