title: Tongue abscess mimicking neoplasia.
abstract: Tongue abscess is a very rare condition about which only sparse imaging findings have been reported. In 2 patients, a submucosal malignant tumor was suspected because of the presence of a painful hard tongue mass with intact mucosal surface. Differential diagnosis of the tongue abscess or malignancy was difficult on MR imaging or positron emission tomography-CT. In careful retrospective history taking, the symptoms had dated from an episode of eating fish several months before presentation. Plain radiographs and noncontrast CT images of the pharynx revealed a foreign body within the lesion. Thus, we present the imaging findings of 2 cases of malignancy mimicking tongue abscess as a result of impaction of a fish bone.
authors.affiliation: Department of Radiology & Medical Research Institute, Pusan National University College of Medicine, Pusan, Korea.
authors.forename: H J
authors.initials: HJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: B J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: S J
authors.initials: SJ
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: W-Y
authors.initials: WY
authors.lastname: Shim
authors.forename: S K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Baik
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sunwoo
mesh_terms: D000038:Abscess / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D005547:Foreign Bodies / Q000175:diagnosis*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014059:Tongue; D014060:Tongue Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D014062:Tongue Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis*