title: Acute edema of the tongue: a life-threatening condition.
abstract: Acute macroglossia is rare, but may cause upper airway obstruction requiring emergency intervention. The cause of the problem is often obscure. Edema of the tongue may be due to angioedema or to allergy. We present several cases of acute edema of the tongue, in 3 cases causing life-threatening airway obstruction. Among these, we present the first case of acute enlargement of the tongue due to the ingestion of artichoke.
authors.affiliation: Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, The Western Galilee Hospital, Nahariya, Israel.
authors.forename: Hussein
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Gadban
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gilbey
authors.forename: Yoav
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Talmon
authors.forename: Alvin
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Samet
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000402:Airway Obstruction / Q000209:etiology; D004487:Edema / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy; D004630:Emergencies; D005260:Female; D005512:Food Hypersensitivity / Q000209:etiology; D006801:Humans; D008260:Macroglossia / Q000209:etiology / Q000628:therapy*; D008297:Male