Hemangioma of base of tongue.

Although vascular malformations of the tongue comprise a significant portion of head and neck angiodysplastic lesions, hemangioma of base of tongue is rare. We report a case of hemangioma of base of tongue extending to the supraglottis, which necessitated an extended supraglottic laryngectomy. Patient had an uneventful recovery and at three year, follow-up has a normal speech and no difficulty in swallowing or aspiration. More importantly, there was no recurrence of hemangioma or bleeding. Although hemangiomas may be treated by various conservative methods, occasionally patient may require surgical excision as in the present case due to the repeated bleeding episode and difficult access. A high index of suspicion and radiological investigations should be performed if the clinical presentation is atypical for malignancy, as in our case.

Atypical distant metastases from hypopharyngeal cancer.

Hypopharyngeal squamous carcinoma is an aggressive disease with a high frequency of local and distant spread. Distant metastasis is seen more often now because of better loco-regional control due to more aggressive multimodal therapy. This article reports two cases of unusual metastatic disease from squamous carcinoma of pyriform sinus and reviews the metastatic disease in hypopharyngeal squamous cancers. The first was a case of metastatic pericardial effusion and the second was a metastasis to soft tissues of the scapular region and lung.