Plunging ranula: Report of a case

Yasuo YOKOBAYASHI, Yasuhiro HIDESHIMA, Michiyuki MAEDA, Sayuri KAWAKITA
Department of Dentistry, Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Toyama Prefectural Central Hospital (Chief : Yasuo YOKOBAYASHI)

Abstract :
Plunging ranula is a form of retention cyst occurring in the submandibular region. In this paper, a case of plunging ranula which did not respond to the compression therapy is reported. A 38-year-old woman visited us because of a fluctuant swelling of the right submandibular region. A cranial radiograph with injection of 76 % Urografin revealed the presence of a cystic lesion in the submandibular region without extension to the sublingual area. This was further confirmed by MRI. The clinical diagnosis was plunging ranula. Following removal of the cystic fluid by aspiration, the cystic area was compressed by gauze, but the lesion recurred in a month. The compression therapy was repeated again, but proved to be unsuccessful. Thus, extirpation of the sublingual gland and marsupialization of the ranula were performed. Postoperatively, there has been no evidence of recurrence of the lesion for 4 years. Microscopically, there was chronic adenitis of the sublingual gland.

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