Incidence
- Children and young adults
Clinical Presentation
- Blue dome shaped, fluctuant swelling in the floor of the mouth.
- Located lateral to the midline (dermoid cyst are midline)
- Arises from superficial ducts of Rivini of sublingual gland.
Location
- FOM, lateral to midline
Plunging Ranula
- Spilled mucin dissects through the mylohyoid muscle and produces a swelling in the neck.
Radiographic Features
- Plunging ranula can exhibit “tail sign” of imaging – extension of lesion into sublingual space
Compare to
- True salivary duct cyst, dermoid cyst (midline), cystic hygroma
Histopathology
- Spilled mucin elicits a granulation tissue response that typically contains foamy histiocytes
Treatment
- Excision and/or marsupialization (externalization by removal of the roof of the intraoral lesion)
The lesser sublingual gland actually consists of 15 to 30 smaller glands, each secreting through a short duct of Rivinus to the sublingual plica. Some individuals have a greater sublingual gland with an excretory duct (Bartholin duct) that either joins with Wharton duct or opens next to it at the sublingual caruncle.
