Objective: To further understand the clinical features of chronic sublinguitis (CS) and to guide the clinical practice by a retrospective study.
Methods: 18 cases with CS were enrolled in the retrospective study and the age, gender, history of present illness, signs, diagnosis and treatment were analyzed.
Results: In 18 patients with CS, 15 patients (83.33%) had palpable masses. 8 masses (53.33%) had poor-defined borders, 11 masses (73.33%) were unmovable. There were only 3 patients (16.67%) who were diagnosed correctly in all 18 cases, while 10 patients (55.56%) were diagnosed as tumor.
Conclusion: CS are often misdiagnosed as sublingual gland tumor and the way to confirm diagnosis is pathological examination. Auxiliary examination should be used properly with clinical manifestation to make the right diagnosis.