Strawberry tongue
| Glossitis | |
|---|---|
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| Glossitis in a person with scarlet fever ("red strawberry tongue"). | |
| Classification and external resources | |
| Specialty | gastroenterology |
| ICD-10 | K14.0 |
| ICD-9-CM | 529.0 |
| DiseasesDB | 5252 |
| MedlinePlus | 001053 |
Glossitis can mean soreness of the tongue, or more usually inflammation with depapillation of the dorsal surface of the tongue (loss of the lingual papillae), leaving a smooth and erythematous (reddened) surface, (sometimes specifically termed atrophic glossitis). In a wider sense, glossitis can mean inflammation of the tongue generally. Glossitis is often caused by nutritional deficiencies and may be painless or cause discomfort. Glossitis usually responds well to treatment if the cause is identified and corrected. Tongue soreness caused by glossitis is differentiated from burning mouth syndrome, where there is no identifiable change in the appearance of the tongue, and there are no identifiable causes.
Glossitis could be classified as a group of tongue diseases or gastrointestinal diseases. It may be primary, where there is no underlying cause, or secondary where it is a sign or symptom of another condition. It can be acute or chronic. Generally speaking, there are several clinical patterns of glossitis, some more common than others.
Atrophic glossitis, also known as bald tongue, smooth tongue, Hunter glossitis, Moeller glossitis, or Möller-Hunter glossitis, is a condition characterized by a smooth glossy tongue that is often tender/painful, caused by complete atrophy of the lingual papillae (depapillation). The dorsal tongue surface may be affected totally, or in patches, and may be associated with a burning sensation, pain and/or erythema. Atrophic glossitis is a non-specific finding, and has a great many causes, usually related to iron-deficiency anemia, pernicious anemia, B vitamin complex deficiencies, unrecognized and untreated celiac disease (which often presents without gastrointestinal symptoms), or other factors such as xerostomia (dry mouth). Although the terms Möller and Hunter glossitis were originally used to refer to specifically the glossitis that occurs in vitamin B12 deficiency secondary to pernicious anemia, they are now used as synonyms for atrophic glossitis generally. In this article, the term glossitis, unless otherwise specified, refers to atrophic glossitis.
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