CARTILAGINOUS CHORISTOMA OF THE TONGUE: A CASE REPORT WITH IMMUNOHISTOCHEMISTRY IN A SECONDARY HEALTH CARE FACILITY.

Background: Soft tissue cartilaginous choristoma (STC) is a mass of mature hyaline cells occurring in abnormal location. It is also referred to as extraskeletal choristoma; a rare lesion that frequently occurs on the tongue in orofacial region.The objective is to bring to the attention of Clinicians especially in secondary health care facilities the need of thorough investigations of tissue specimen to prevent misdiagnosis and avail themselves every diagnostic tool in the management of all oral swellings. Case presentation: A 7-year old boy presented in Dental clinic in a secondary health care facility with history of an asymptomatic, non-tender and slow-growing swelling on the dorsum of the tongue of 3 years duration. Surgical excision was done under general anaesthesia. Histopathological and immunohistochemical evaluations were the tools used to establish its diagnosis. Conclusion: Soft tissue choristoma is rare benign swelling that mostly occur in the anterior two-third of the tongue and can be misdiagnosed clinically but diagnostic tools like histopathology and immunohistochemistry will help confirm it.