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The lingual osseous choristoma is a rare benign lesion of the tongue, and it is difficult to make a correct preoperative diagnosis of these lesions. Two cases are presented in this article.

True osteomata of the tongue, comprised solely of dense bone, are very rare lesions. In fact, tumors of the tongue containing bone are almost as unusual as osteomata. When one considers that the tongue is an active muscular organ subject to trauma, especially at its tip and margins, the relative lack of calcified tumors is surprising. A review of the world's literature reveals a total of eight cases since Monsarrat 1 published the first case report, in 1913. An asymptomatic lesion the size of a small cherry was accidentally discovered in a 32-year-old woman. The tumor was pedunculated, freely mobile, and located 2 to 3 mm. lateral to the "sulcus terminalis." The mass was easily removed. Microscopic sections revelaed a regular, dense, bony tissue with a few narrow Haversian canals. The bony lamellae formed a circular or oval pattern with only a few osteocytes. Hirsch 2 reported the second case

NONCALCIFIED benign neoplasms are commonly seen on the tongue and are usually located on the lateral borders in the anterior two thirds. The ventral surface and posterior third of the tongue are rare sites for benign neoplasms. Benign tumors of the tongue containing cartilage and so-called mixed tumors containing cartilage, fibrous connective tissue, and bone have also been reported. 1-7 True osteomas of the tongue, however, are exceedingly rare lesions and, in reviewing the literature, only eleven cases have been reported. 8-18 A 12th case is to be presented (the table). In all but one case, the patients were females. The oldest patient was 39 and the youngest 11. With the exception of the 11 year old, the remainder of the patients were in their 20's and 30's. The average age of the patients was 25 1/2 years. The most common presenting complaint was difficulty in swallowing although

Intraoral submucosal lesions composed entirely of mature bone are rare. To the sixteen cases previously reported, nine new ones are added. Considering the origin, histologic features, and location of these lesions, the term osseous choristoma is more appropriate than osteoma .

In 1962, Boniuk and Zimmerman 1 reviewed the literature, and reported six cases of what had formerly been called epibulbar osteoma. They found that a total of 20 cases had previously been reported. Since their publication, two additional cases have been reported by Wiesinger and Guerry. 2 Boniuk and Zimmerman felt that "episcleral osseous choristoma" was a more appropriate term for this clinical entity. A choristoma is a proliferation of tissue elements at a site where they normally do not occur. An epibulbar dermoid would fall into the same category. Boniuk and Zimmerman pointed out the differences between the epibulbar dermoids and episcleral osseous choristomas: (1) episcleral osseous choristomas have all been found superotemporally, while the dermoids when epibulbar, are more often found inferotemporally; (2) epibulbar dermoids are associated with congenital anomalies in 30% of the reported cases, while episcleral osseous choristomas have not yet been reported with other congenital