| Abstract: | Leiomyoma, a benign neoplasm of smooth muscle cell origin, has been documented infrequently in the oral cavity. It may arise wherever unstriated muscle is present including the arterial wall (Cherrick et al., 1973). The most common site is the uterus, followed by the wall of the alimentary canal and in subcutaneous tissue (McCaffrey et al., 1978). A search of the literature revealed 51 cases of oral leiomyomas. Cherrick et al. (1973) reviewed 35 cases, including seven of their own. Galili and Shteyer (1974) summarized the clinical data of 42 cases of oral leiomyomas reported since 1884. We can find only nine more reported cases of leiomyoma in the oral cavity: one each by Rhatigan and Kim (1976), Shirota et al. (1976), Kelly and Harrigan (1977), Schweigel (1980), Davis (1980) and Mechlin et al. (1980); and three cases by Damm and Neville (1979). The common sites in the oral cavity are the tongue and cheek but its occurrence on the palate is rare for out of the 51 cases of oral leiomyomas, only 10 involved the palate (one case each was reported by Fein, 1905; Kist and Bhaskar, 1964; Garrett, 1969; Galili and Shteyer, 1974; Rhatigan and Kim, 1976; and Davis, 1980; and four cases by Cherrick et al., 1973). Its rarity and large size make the tumour worth reporting. |
