Head & Neck Case Review 2021-04

Head & Neck Case Review

April, 2021

History

A 68-year-old African American male presented with a nontender mass under his tongue for 2 weeks. He had dysarthria because of compromised tongue movement. He denied pain, bleeding, dysphagia, loss of appetite, weight changes, and shortness of breath. There was no history of prior swelling, trauma, or oral cavity surgeries. Clinical examination revealed a mobile, solid, non-tender, oval-shaped right sublingual mass (3.0 x 2.0 cm). No notable cervical adenopathy was found.

CT scan showed a well-circumscribed, oblong shaped hyperdense mass (4.1 x 2.5 x 4.0 cm) situated within the floor of mouth/right sublingual gland with mild mass effect upon the midline intrinsic tongue musculature. No calcification or sialolith were identified. There was no surrounding inflammation or cervical lymphadenopathy. Excision of the mass was performed.

Images

Quiz

Q1. Which genetic alteration is associated with this tumor?

  • A. SS18-SSX1/SSX2/SSX4 fusion
  • B. EWSR1-FLI1 fusion
  • C. NAB2-STAT6 fusion
  • D. PLAG1 rearrangement

Q2. Histologic features of the tumor always predict outcome in these patients.

  • A. True
  • B. False

Diagnosis

Contributors

Shajia Ansari, MD
Resident
Pathology and Immunology
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, TX US

Syeling Lai, MD
Associate Professor
Pathology and Immunology
Baylor College of Medicine
Houston, TX US