The Tongue Rules …..
Invited speaker, Dr Janellen Smith, UC Irvine Professor of Dermatology, presented a lecture on the subject of the tongue, at the 54th Annual Clinical and Scientific Dermatology Meeting of the University of Ottawa. “Often used, but little understood, the tongue is often ignored by those of us who treat the ectoderm”. Dr Smith commenced her talk with a basic anatomy lecture with graphic images of normal features such as filiform and circumvallate papillae, crenations, caviar tongue.
“Understanding the geographic nature of ulcer location can assist in coming to a diagnosis, said Dr Smith. Aphthous ulcers almost always occur on the undersurface of the tongue, so if you are looking at such a lesion on the dorsal surface of the tongue, think viral or some other cause, but not aphthous.
Dr Smith who’s main specialty is melanoma, and who regularly lectures on this subject, developed an interest in the tongue during her residency in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She regards this as her ‘hobby’! “It’s the tail wagging the dog”, she says, as now she is more often asked to discuss this poorly understood organ than to talk about melanoma.
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