Neurilemmomas of the tongue are uncommon. When they do occur, treatment is simple. However, diagnosis is invariably delayed because of the vagueness of symptoms. We encountered 2 cases of this unusual tumor within weeks of each other. In 1 of these cases, the definitive diagnosis was delayed because of the atypical clinical picture—that is, an abscess in the tongue that had caused respiratory distress. We describe our management of these 2 cases, and we discuss what has been published in the literature regarding the presentation, diagnosis, histopathology, treatment, and prognosis for patients with glossal neurilemmoma.
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