Pietragalla Michele, Gattuso Emanuele, Nardi Cosimo, Lo Casto Antonio
Department of Radiology, San Jacopo Hospital, Via Ciliegiole 97, 51100 Pistoia, Italy.
Department of Biomedicine, Neuroscience and Advanced Diagnostics (BIND), Section of Radiology, University Hospital of Palermo, 90127 Palermo, Italy.
Cancers (Basel). 2025 May 18;17(10):1695. doi: 10.3390/cancers17101695.
Benign neoplasms and tumor-like lesions of the tongue are relatively rare entities, encompassing a heterogeneous spectrum of morphological alterations. The recent literature focusing on benign tumors and tumor-like lesions of the tongue is relatively limited, which may lead to a gap in understanding their specific imaging characteristics. Most benign tongue tumors usually appear as submucosal bulges located in the deep portion of the tongue. Both computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) are essential for the comprehensive diagnostic evaluation of these entities. Cross-sectional imaging plays a pivotal role in narrowing the differential diagnosis and, in selected cases, may suggest a specific histopathological entity. The benign tumors and tumor-like lesions included in this review comprise schwannoma, lipoma, angiomyolipoma, hemangioma, vascular malformations, dermoid cysts, and thyroglossal duct remnants (including cystic formations and ectopic thyroid tissue). Additionally, certain non-neoplastic conditions-such as lingual abscesses, infectious mononucleosis complicated by lingual tonsillitis, and fatty atrophy of the tongue-can mimic neoplastic processes and present as mass-like lesions; these have also been addressed in this pictorial essay. The purpose of this work is to illustrate the key CT and MRI features of the aforementioned benign lingual lesions, with the aim of improving diagnostic confidence and accuracy.
舌部的良性肿瘤和肿瘤样病变相对少见，涵盖了形态学改变的异质性谱。近期聚焦于舌部良性肿瘤和肿瘤样病变的文献相对有限，这可能导致在理解其特定影像特征方面存在差距。大多数舌部良性肿瘤通常表现为位于舌深部的黏膜下隆起。计算机断层扫描（CT）和磁共振成像（MRI）对于这些病变的综合诊断评估都至关重要。横断面成像在缩小鉴别诊断范围方面起着关键作用，在某些情况下，可能提示特定的组织病理学实体。本综述中包括的良性肿瘤和肿瘤样病变有神经鞘瘤、脂肪瘤、血管平滑肌脂肪瘤、血管瘤、血管畸形、皮样囊肿和甲状舌管残余（包括囊性结构和异位甲状腺组织）。此外，某些非肿瘤性疾病，如舌部脓肿、合并舌扁桃体炎的传染性单核细胞增多症以及舌部脂肪萎缩，可模仿肿瘤性病变并表现为肿块样病变；这些也在本影像文章中进行了阐述。这项工作的目的是阐明上述舌部良性病变的关键CT和MRI特征，以提高诊断的可信度和准确性。
