Focal myositis of the tongue

Focal myositis, a benign inflammatory pseudotumor of skeletal muscle, was first described as a distinct clinicopathologic entity by Heffner et al.’ in 1977. According to their report, the lesion affects both children and adults between 10 and 67 years of age and is equally distributed among the sexes. It presents clinically as a rapidly enlarging soft tissue mass that evolves over a period of several weeks as a localized lesion. Preoperatively, the lesion is most often mistaken for a sarcoma. Histologically, focal myositis is characterized by marked myopathic changes of the muscle fibers, interstitial fibrosis, and lymphocytic infiltration. It must be differentiated from neoplasms, nodular fasciitis, proliferative myositis, myositis ossilicans, and polymyositis. Only three cases have been described in the head and neck region2: in the sternocleidomastoid muscle of a 40-year-old man.3 a midline submandibular lesion in a 20-year-old man,4 and beneath the buccal mucosa of an 1 l-year-old boy.4 We report an additional case of focal myositis involving the tongue.