Acute edema of the tongue: a life-threatening condition.
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.
Gadban
Hussein
H
Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, The Western Galilee Hospital, Nahariya, Israel.
Gilbey
Peter
P
Talmon
Yoav
Y
Samet
Alvin
A
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