Cartilaginous choristoma of the tongue.

Choristomas are lesions composed of normal cells or tissues occurring in an abnormal location. Cartilaginous choristomas of the oral mucosa are rare and occur preferentially on the tongue and less often in sites such as the soft palate and gingiva. Oral lesions are generally covered by integral mucosa and can occur at any age. The present study describes a case of a 73-year-old female presenting with an asymptomatic cartilaginous choristoma on the ventral surface of the tongue which had developed over a period of 3 years. The clinical presentation and management of the case are discussed and the literature is reviewed. This is the 28th reported case of a cartilaginous choristoma of the tongue and the third with a ventral localisation.

Pyogenic granuloma, peripheral giant cell granuloma and peripheral ossifying fibroma: retrospective analysis of 138 cases.

AIM: The present study examined retrospectively the clinical and radiographic characteristics of pyogenic granuloma (PG), peripheral giant cell granuloma (PGCG) and peripheral ossifying fibroma (POF), located in the gingiva and alveolar ridge. METHODS: Biopsy records of the Stomatology Service of São Lucas Hospital-PUCRS were reviewed between 1980 and 2006. The medical charts of patients with histopathologic diagnosis of PG, PGCG and POF were selected. The data obtained were evaluated by means of descriptive statistics, analysis of variance (ANOVA), and the chi-squared test (chi-squared), considering the 5% level of significance. RESULTS: Of the 138 cases analyzed, 57.2% corresponded to PG, 22.5% to PGCG and 20.3% to POF. PG and POF exhibited a predilection for females and PGCG for males. PG occurred in younger individuals and showed a greater tendency for bleeding (P=0.018). PG showed a greater frequency of reddish color (P<0.001), PGCG purplish (P<0.001) and POF pinkish (P<0.001). In the radiographic examination, the presence of radiopaque foci was greater in POF (P<0.001), and resorption of the subjacent alveolar bone was found more often in PGCG (P<0.001). POF exhibited a longer evolution. There was no difference in lesions with respect to local irritating factors, ulceration, size, site and recurrence. Pregnancy was a factor linked to PG. CONCLUSION: Despite the lesions investigated exhibit similar clinical characteristics, the present study demonstrated that aspects such as age of the patient and evolution, color, bleeding and radiographic characteristics can help in the differential diagnosis of these lesions.

Evaluation of the nucleolar organizer region associated proteins in exfoliative cytology of normal buccal mucosa. Effect of smoking.

An evaluation of cellular alterations in the smoker's oral mucosal cells was performed. The Exfoliative Cytology technique was applied and the cytological smears stained with silver for the enumeration of Argyrophilic nucleolar organizer regions (AgNORs). Cytological smears were collected from two anatomic sites: floor of the mouth and tongue border, in both groups, smokers and non smokers, with a purpose of correlating the smoking habit to possible cellular alterations. The enumeration of the AgNORs showed that the average number of AgNORs is higher in smokers. There is a significant difference (P=0.0001) between smears from the floor of the mouth and from tongue border in the smoking group. In this study, no correlation between number of cigarettes, age and gender was found, but the results suggest that there might be a correlation between the smoking habit and an increased rate of cellular proliferation in the oral mucosal cells.