Lingual dermoid cysts

A 13-year-old white girl presented with a 2-year history of recurrent swelling in the floor of mouth. Episodes of swelling usually progressed over 2 to 4 days and were accompanied by dysphagia, dysar-thria, and occasional fevers. Previous treatment con-sisted of oral antibiotics, resulting only in temporary relief of her symptoms. One episode was compli-cated by the formation of a submental abscess that required surgical drainage and intravenous antibiot-ics at another institution. On physical examination, a small pit was seen 2 cm from the tip of the dorsal tongue. An iodine-123 thyroid scan revealed no ev-idence of ectopic thyroid tissue in the floor of mouth. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed a 1- to 2-cm area between the geniohyoid muscles that en