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SUBCUTANEOUS CYSTICERCOSIS OF THE TONGUE MIMICKING A TUMOR
Author(s) -
PUPPIN DOUGLAS,
CAVEGN BRIGITTA MARIA,
DELMAESTRO DÉLIO
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
international journal of dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.677
H-Index - 93
eISSN - 1365-4632
pISSN - 0011-9059
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-4362.1993.tb02772.x
Subject(s) - medicine , taenia solium , nodule (geology) , cysticercosis , physical examination , asymptomatic , biopsy , cyst , pathology , tongue , radiology , paleontology , biology
A 12‐year‐old Brazilian girl was seen in our department with a single asymptomatic nodule on the dorsum of the tongue (Fig. 1). The nodule had been present for approxi‐mately 4 years. It measured 1–2 cm in diameter, was firm, flesh‐colored, nontender, nonpulsatile, and slightly mobile. The patient acknowledged that she had been treated for tapeworms 3 years previously, but she could not specify the treatment. Physical examination was otherwise unre‐markable. A clinical diagnosis of lipoma, cyst, or granular cell tumor was suspected. Biopsy of the nodule was per‐formed. Histopathologic examination revealed a cysticercus of Taenia solium in a “bladder cyst” (Fig. 2) surrounded by a discrete inflammatory reaction. Laboratory tests included stool examination that was negative for ova and parasites and a normal complete blood cell count. Chest roentgeno‐gram, EEG, ECG, and brain, liver, spleen, and bone scans were normal. The patient was seen 2 years later and had no evidence of cysticercosis.