title: Clinical features and histological description of tongue lesions in a large Northern Italian population.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Only few studies on tongue lesions considered sizable populations, and contemporary literature does not provide a valid report regarding the epidemiology of tongue lesions within the Italian population. In this report, the histopathological and clinical appearance of 1.106 tongue lesions from northern Italians are described and discussed.
  
  
  METHODS
  The case records of patients referred for the diagnosis and management of tongue lesions, from October 1993 to October 2013, were reviewed. Histological data were also obtained and blindly re-examined.
  
  
  RESULTS
  For instance, a biopsy performed on a lingual ulcer has a strong predicting association with a carcinoma, whereas a biopsy on a white lesion predicts for a leukoplakia or oral lichen planus. Moreover, a biopsy of erosion is representative of bullous diseases, whereas a biopsy on a verrucous-papillary lesion is significant for fibroma. Furthermore, carcinomas occur in the majority of cases on the lingual edge or pelvis, oral lichen planus is mainly seen on the edge, and fibromas mostly on the lingual tip.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The high frequency of tongue involvement of such different diseases emphasizes the importance of histological characterization and that some diseases occur more frequently than others, with a peculiar clinical aspect and a more common area. In fact our survey can help the clinician in advancing diagnostic hypothesis, on the basis of the elementary lesion and its site of involvement.
authors.affiliation: Oral Medicine Section, University of Turin, CIR - Dental School, Via Nizza 230, 10126, Turin, Italy, alessio.gambino@unito.it.
authors.forename: Alessio
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gambino
authors.forename: Mario
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Carbone
authors.forename: Paolo-Giacomo
authors.initials: PG
authors.lastname: Arduino
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Carrozzo
authors.forename: Davide
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Conrotto
authors.forename: Carlotta
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Tanteri
authors.forename: Lucio
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Carbone
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Elia
authors.forename: Zaira
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Maragon
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Broccoletti
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007558:Italy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014060:Tongue Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000473:pathology*