Rhomboid glossitis in atypical location: case report and differential diagnosis

Median rhomboid glossitis (MRG) is an uncommon benign abnormality of the tongue, most frequently affecting men. It is typically located around the midline of the dorsum of the tongue, anterior to the lingual "V", appearing as a reddish, rhomboid area, depapillated, flat maculate or mamillated and raised by 2 - 5 mm. This paper reports a case of rhomboid glossitis in a 61-year-old man who consulted for a painless raised lesion on the dorsum of the tongue, in left paramedial (not medial) location. Histopathological findings were compatible with rhomboid glossitis. Other diagnoses considered but ruled out on the basis of the clinical and histopathological findings were haemangioma, pyogenic granuloma, amyloidosis, granular cell tumour, and squamous cell carcinoma. This case confirms that rhomboid glossitis may occur in paramedial locations.