A painless, bluish, submucosal swelling on one side of the floor of the mouth usually indicates the presence of a ranula. Rarely, such a swelling may be caused by an inflammatory disease process in a salivary gland, a neoplasm in the sublingual salivary gland, a lymphatic nodular swelling, or embryologic cysts. We report a patient with swelling in the floor of her mouth that was clinically diagnosed as a ranula. Suspicion arose during surgery that it was a vascular tumor and, on histologic testing, the swelling was confirmed to be a hemangioma. To our knowledge, this is the first report in the literature of a hemangioma presenting as ranula.
References
1.
ShpitzerT, NoyekAM, WitterickI, Noncutaneous cavernous hemangiomas of the head and neck. Am J Otolaryngol1997;18(6):367–74.
2.
MullikenJB, GlowackiJ.Hemangiomas and vascular malformations in infants and children: A classification based on endothelial characteristics. Plast Reconstr Surg1982;69(3):412–22.
3.
WanerM, SuenJY. A classification of congenital vascular lesions. In: WanerM, SuenJY, eds. Hemangiomas and Vascular Malformations of the Head and Neck. San Francisco: Wiley; 1999:1–12.
4.
GarzonM.Hemangiomas: Update on classification, clinical presentation, and associated anomalies. Cutis2000;66(5):325–8.
5.
DonaldPJ. Vascular anomalies of the head and neck. Facial Plast Surg Clin North Am2001;9(1):77–92.
6.
FordhamLA, ChungCJ, DonnellyLF. Imaging of congenital vascular and lymphatic anomalies of the head and neck. Neuroimaging Clin N Am2000;10(1):117–36.
7.
HesselAC, VoraN, KountakisSE, ChangCY. Vascular lesion of the masseter presenting with phlebolith. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg1999;120(4):545–8.
8.
BizakisJG, PrassopoulosP, PapadakisCE, Arteriovenous malformation of the neck presented during delivery. Auris Nasus Larynx2002;29(2):203–7.
9.
OdabasiAO, MetinKK, MutluC, Intramuscular hemangioma of the masseter muscle. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol1999; 256(7):366–9.
10.
GiudiceM, PiazzaC, BolzoniA, PerettiG.Head and neck intramuscular haemangioma: Report of two cases with unusual localization. Eur Arch Otorhinolaryngol2003;260(9):498–501.
11.
BroniatowskiM.Intramuscular hemangiomas of the masseter and sternomastoid muscles. Ear Nose Throat J1993;72(4):303–5.
ClementWA, GrahamI, AblettM.Intramuscular hemangioma of the posterior belly of the digastrics muscle failing to highlight on magnetic resonance imaging. Ann Otol Rhinol Laryngol2002;111(11):1050–3.
14.
OkabeY, IshikawaS, FurukawaM.Intramuscular hemangioma of the masseter muscle: Its characteristic appearance on magnetic resonance imaging. ORL J Otorhinolaryngol Relat Spec1991;53(6):366–9.
