A 62-year-old man, known for alcohol and tobacco abuse, was diagnosed with laryngeal squamous cell carcinoma in 2008. He underwent curative radiotherapy (70 Gy), delivered to the laryngeal and oropharyngeal area as well as the neck. Follow-up 4 months after this treatment showed recurrence, for which we performed total laryngectomy and bilateral neck dissection.
Eight months after surgery he was doing well and presented no recurrence, but physical examination showed thick black hairy lesions on the back of his tongue (Figure). These lesions had appeared and quickly evolved 4 weeks before the consultation, with no associated symptoms such as pain, dysphagia, or dysgeusia. The patient had not received antibiotics in the last months. Bacterial and fungal cultures of tongue swab were negative. Basic blood tests showed no particularity. Thus, we diagnosed the patient with black hairy tongue.
To read this article in its entirety, please visit our website.
-- Lluís Nisa, MD, Roland Giger, MD
This article originally appeared in the September 2011 issue of The American Journal of Medicine.
Tidak ada komentar:
Posting Komentar