Fissured Tongue

Aka: Fissured Tongue, Dorsal Fissuring of Tongue, Congenital Furrows of Tongue, Scrotal Tongue, Lingua Plicata, Furrowed Tongue

advertisement

II. Epidemiology

  1. Prevalence as a normal Tongue variant in 10 to 20% of adults
  2. Inherited Tongue fissuring increases with age

III. Pathophysiology

  1. Normal benign Tongue variation increases with age
  2. May be caused by Xerostomia

IV. Symptoms

  1. Often asymptomatic
  2. Symptoms when they occur are typically related to food trapping in fissures
    1. Halitosis
    2. Altered Tongue coloration

V. Signs

  1. Deep fissures, grooves and folds of Tongue
    1. Deep median sulcus
    2. Deep transverse furrows across Tongue dorsum

VI. Associated Conditions

  1. Down Syndrome
  2. Sjogren Syndrome
  3. Psoriasis
  4. Geographic Tongue
  5. Melkersson-Rosenthal Syndrome (rare)
    1. Triad of Fissured Tongue, relapsing Facial Edema, Facial Nerve Palsy

VII. Differential Diagnosis

  1. Syphilitic Glossitis causes longitudinal Tongue furrows

VIII. Management

  1. Treat underlying causes (esp. Xerostomia)
  2. Removal of trapped debris
    1. Stroke Tongue 15x with Tooth Brush after meals, bedtime
    2. Oral irrigation

IX. Complications

  1. Food debris accumulates in crevices and can irritate

X. See Also

  1. Straub (2024) Am Fam Physician 110(5): 467-75 [PubMed]

Images: Related links to external sites (from Bing)

These images are a random sampling from a Bing search on the term "Fissured Tongue." Click on the image (or right click) to open the source website in a new browser window. Search Bing for all related images

Ontology: Fissured tongue (C0040412)

Concepts Disease or Syndrome (T047)
MSH D014063
ICD9 529.5
ICD10 K14.5
SnomedCT 204627005, 52368004
English Fissured Tongue, Fissured Tongues, Furrowed Tongues, Tongue, Fissured, Tongue, Furrowed, Tongues, Fissured, Tongues, Furrowed, Furrowed Tongue, LINGUA PLICATA, SCROTAL TONGUE, plicated tongue (diagnosis), plicated tongue, Fissured tongue, Tongue, Fissured [Disease/Finding], furrowed tongue, lingua plicata, fissured tongue, fissuring tongue, tongue scrotal, fissure tongue, tongue fissured, fissures tongue, scrotal tongue, tongue fissure, Lingua Plicata, Scrotal Tongue, Fissure of tongue, scrotal tongue (physical finding), Scrotal tongue, Lingua plicata, Furrowed tongue, Plicated tongue, Plicated tongue (disorder), fissure; tongue, furrowed; tongue, lingua; plicata, plicata; lingua, scrotum; tongue, tongue; fissure, tongue; furrowed, tongue; scrotal
Italian Lingua plicata, Lingua scrotale, Lingua fissurata
Swedish Tunga, fissurerad
Japanese ﾋﾀﾞｾﾞﾂ, 陰嚢舌, 有溝舌, ｲﾝﾉｳｾﾞﾂ, ｺｳｼﾞｮｳｾﾞﾂ, ひだ舌, 亀裂舌, 溝状舌, 舌-有溝, 陰嚢様舌, 舌-ひだ, 舌-亀裂, 舌-溝状
Czech jazyk rýhovaný, Zřasený jazyk, Drsný jazyk, Zbrázděný jazyk
Portuguese Língua Plicata, Língua fissurada, Língua Fendida, Língua Escrotal, Língua Fissurata, Língua Bífida, Língua escrotal, Língua Fissurada
Spanish Lengua Plicata, Lengua escrotal, Lengua fisurada, Lengua Fissurata, Lengua Hendida, Lengua Bífida, Lengua Escrotal, lengua agrietada, lengua escrotal (trastorno), lengua escrotal, lengua fisurada, lengua surcada, lingua plegada, Lengua plegada, Lengua Fisurada
Finnish Uurrekieli
Russian IAZYK SKLADCHATYI, IAZYK BOROZDCHATYI, ЯЗЫК БОРОЗДЧАТЫЙ, ЯЗЫК СКЛАДЧАТЫЙ
Korean 주름잡힌 혀
Polish Język pofałdowany, Język mosznowy
Hungarian Nyelv plicált, Fissurált nyelv, Scrotalis nyelv
Dutch gekloofde tong, scrotale tong, fissuur; tong, gegroefd; tong, lingua; plicata, lingua; scrotalis, plicata; lingua, scrotalis; lingua, tong; fissuur, tong; gegroefd, lingua plicata, Fissuurtong, Lingua fissurata, Lingua plicata
German Lingua fissurata, Lingua scrotalis, Faltenzunge, Lingua plicata, Zunge, Falten-
Norwegian Skrotaltunge, Spaltet tunge, Fissurert tunge, Foldet tunge, Furet tunge
French Langue scrotale, Langue plicaturée, Langue cérébriforme, Langue fissurée
Derived from the NIH UMLS (Unified Medical Language System)

Related Topics in Tongue Disorders

advertisement

2025 Family Practice Notebook, LLC. Terms | Privacy | About | Site Map | Newsletter | Blog

Footer Site Logo