ULTRASONOGRAPHIC EVALUATION OF THE TONGUE AND THE FLOOR OF THE MOUTH - NORMAL AND PATHOLOGICAL FINDINGS

An ultrasonographic study of the tongue and the floor of the mouth was performed in 30 healthy children (aged from 1 day to 15 years) in ord er to assess the normal US anatomy of this region. The scans were perf ormed in sagittal and coronal planes with a 7.5-mHz transducer. Moreov er, 22 children (aged from 1 day to 15 years) presenting with various clinical symptoms underwent US examination. This series included infec tious and congenital diseases. The US findings were correlated with su rgery and pathology in 19 cases, with the clinical follow-up in 2 case s and with the nuclear study in 1 case. In each case, US could anatomi cally locate the lesion with very good accuracy. We conclude that US o f the tongue and the floor of the mouth in children yields overall ver y good accuracy in the investigation of diseases of this region. In th is study, our purpose was (1) to evaluate the normal sonographic anato my of the tongue and the floor of the mouth in children and (2) to det ermine whether it was possible to correctly localize various lesions a nd to evaluate their nature in order to guide the therapeutic approach .