What is macroglossia? What are its causes?
Macroglossia (large tongue in Greek) is a rare finding. The patient presents with indentations on the sides of
the tongue (caused by pressure from the lateral teeth), and may also have a history of thickened speech,
snoring, or full-blown sleep apnea. Although politicians are at greater risk for developing an
occupational variety of this condition, macroglossia is often associated with systemic disorders, such as
acromegaly, hypothyroidism, Down syndrome, amyloidosis, and various thesaurismoses. In all these
conditions, the enlargement of the tongue is caused by either proteinaceous infiltration or hypertrophy of the
muscle. The exception, of course, is politicians (whose macroglossia is due to idiopathic tongue-in-cheek), and some normal people, who present instead with simple lateral indentations, without clear-cut macroglossia or systemic illness.
Macroglossia (large tongue in Greek) is a rare finding. The patient presents with indentations on the sides of
the tongue (caused by pressure from the lateral teeth), and may also have a history of thickened speech,
snoring, or full-blown sleep apnea. Although politicians are at greater risk for developing an
occupational variety of this condition, macroglossia is often associated with systemic disorders, such as
acromegaly, hypothyroidism, Down syndrome, amyloidosis, and various thesaurismoses. In all these
conditions, the enlargement of the tongue is caused by either proteinaceous infiltration or hypertrophy of the
muscle. The exception, of course, is politicians (whose macroglossia is due to idiopathic tongue-in-cheek), and some normal people, who present instead with simple lateral indentations, without clear-cut macroglossia or systemic illness.