Osseous choristomas are rare benign lesions characterized by ectopic bone formation in the soft tissue of the head and neck region. Dermoscopy visualizes the morphological characteristics that are not observable by the naked eye, and may be used for the evaluation of calcification under the skin. The present study reports a case of an osseous choristoma arising in the tongue, and reveals the dermoscopic features of osseous choristoma from a surgical specimen. A 7-year-old boy was referred to the Department of Dentistry and Oral Surgery, with an asymptomatic pedunculated mass in the tongue. The lesion was removed completely with the adjacent normal tissue under general anesthesia. Dermoscopy of the surgical specimen revealed the hypovascular and homogeneous pattern of the lesion with round extruded whitish material. Based on dermoscopic findings, the presence of calcified hard tissue in the submucosa was verified by the dermatologist. Radiographic examination of the surgical specimen revealed the lesion contained a radiopaque trabeculated mass. Histologically, the lesion contained an osseous tissue, and the pathological diagnosis of osseous choristoma was made following consideration of the ectopic bony tissues that were localized away from the maxillo-mandibular bone. The postoperative course was uneventful with no signs of recurrence during the 36 months following surgery. To the best of the author's knowledge, this is the first report of evaluation of osseous choristoma using dermoscopy. The observation indicates the usefulness of dermoscopy for the diagnosis of oral ossified lesion in oral soft tissue.
Keywords: dermoscopy; ectopic bone formation; osseous choristoma; ossification; soft tissue; tongue.