Three Cases of Hunter's Glossitis.

Hunter's glossitis is a type of atrophic glossitis related to perinicious anemia. We present three cases of Hunter's glossitis with dysgeusia and glossalgia. In all three cases, a smooth red tongue and macrocytic anemia due to vitamin B12 deficiency were observed. It has been shown that anemia due to vitamin B12 deficiency in each three cases was caused by different mechanisms. Perinicious anemia occurred in case 1. In case 2 vitamin B12 deficiency resulted following total gastrectomy. In case 3 a disorder in the absorption of vitamin B12 was induced by antimycotics. These patients were treated with vitamin B12 which improved the appearance of the tongue, and resolved complaints of taste disorder and lingual pain.Atrophic glossitis (Hunter's glossitis) must be considered, and can be easily improved with vitamin B12 treatment.