Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
Dog with tongue hairs and swelling treated by laser surgery
By Gougeon, Eliot et al.·Published in The Canadian veterinary journal = La revue veterinaire canadienne·2024·CHV Fré, France·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Median lingual hair heterotopia associated with pyogranulomatous glossitis in a Labrador retriever: Surgical treatment using carbon-dioxide laser.
- Species:
- dog
Plain-English summary
A 9-year-old male Labrador retriever was having trouble swallowing and had hair growing on his tongue. A vet found that he had ulcerative glossitis (inflammation of the tongue) and used imaging tests to discover that hair was trapped in tissue on his tongue. The vet performed surgery with a carbon-dioxide laser to remove the affected area. Ten months later, the dog was doing well with no signs of inflammation, although some hair had started to grow back in a small area. Overall, the surgery was successful, and the dog's symptoms improved significantly.
People also search for: dog swallowing problems · Labrador tongue hair growth · carbon-dioxide laser surgery for dogs
Abstract
A 9-year-old male Labrador retriever dog was presented with dysphagia and presence of hairs on the tongue. Buccal examination revealed ulcerative glossitis and lingual hairs along the midline. Ultrasound and magnetic resonance imaging of the tongue showed multiple hair shafts contained in a proliferative tissue along the midline and extending in a fistulous tract towards the right ventral aspect of the tongue at mid-length. Surgical excision was completed using a carbon-dioxide laser. Histopathological examination revealed a pyogranulomatous inflammation centered on growing hairs, confirming the diagnosis of glossitis and lingual hair heterotopia. At 10 mo after surgery, all clinical signs and glossitis had disappeared despite partial recurrence of hair on the dorsal sulcus and in the sublingual fistula. Key clinical message: Although lingual hair heterotopia usually has no clinical repercussions, associated ulcerative lesions should support imaging and biopsy.Resection of the lesion using a carbon-dioxide laser resulted in a good outcome in this case, but recurrent hair growth is possible.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38434165/