Imaging of pediatric floor of mouth lesions

There is a vast spectrum of pathology that afflicts the floor of mouth in children. These span inflammatory conditions, vascular malformations, developmental anomalies, benign tumors and malignancies. While this area is readily evaluated on clinical exam, imaging is often performed to better characterize the disorder prior to management. The imaging modalities most frequently utilized are US, CT and MR. The purpose of this article is to describe the primary conditions that occur in this location in children so that radiologists may provide an appropriate differential diagnosis. These include ranula, venolymphatic malformation, dermoid, teratoma, foregut duplication cyst, hairy polyp, thyroglossal duct cyst and rhabdomyosarcoma. For each pathological condition, there will be a focus on describing its imaging manifestation. Floor of mouth anatomy, imaging approach during both prenatal and postnatal life and etiologies will be discussed. Surgical considerations and operative photographs will also be presented.