A case of intravascular papillary endothelial hyperplasia of the tongue

Intravascular papillary endothelial hyperplasia （IPEH）, known as Masson’s tumor, is a rare benign non-neoplastic vascular lesion of the skin and subcutaneous tissue, consisting of a reactive proliferation of endothelial cells with papillary formations related to a thrombus. Presentation in the oral cavity is rare.A 40-year-old woman was referred to our hospital because of tongue swelling. Physical examination revealed a movable hemispherical nodule measuring 25 × 20 mm on the right side of the dorsum of the tongue. The mucosa of the lesion was dark red. The lesion was clinically diagnosed as a hemangioma and was surgically removed under general anesthesia. Histological examinations indicated that the lesion was IPEH. Limited information is obtained on magnetic resonance imaging （MRI） of oral IPEH because of the lesion is generally too small to examine. However, because our patient had the largest case of IPEH developing in the oral cavity, it was possible to compare MRI findings with histologic features.