Candidiasis and atrophic tongue lesions.

In an attempt to shed more light on the role of Candida albicans in the genesis of median rhomboid glossitis, a three-part study of normal, atrophic, and cadaver tongues was undertaken. Occasional fungal hyphae were found in 36 percent of the clinically normal tongues. Hyphae were far more numerous in cytologic smears from atrophic tongue lesions than in those from normal tongues. More than 40 percent of the cadaver tongues showed fungal hyphae. The possible role of C. albicans as a cause of median rhomboid glossitis is discussed in the light of these findings.