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An 85-year-old male cigar smoker with no notable medical history presented with black discoloration and hairy appearance of the tongue, which had lasted for several years. He said he did not use bismuth-containing compounds. Black hairy tongue, also known as lingua villosa nigra, is a painless, benign disorder caused by defective desquamation and reactive hypertrophy of the filiform papillae of the tongue. It is characterized clinically by an abnormal brownish-black coating of the dorsal surface of the tongue. The exact pathogenesis is unclear. A number of relevant etiologic factors have been assumed, including the use of topical or systemic antibiotics . . . [Full Text of this Article] |
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