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Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2003;129:492.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

Diagnosis: Intraoral ranula

A ranula is a sublingual gland cyst that results from mucus retention¹ or extravasation.² Two varieties are described based on their extent: intraoral ranulas contained entirely within the sublingual space and those extending below the mylohyoid diaphragm, known as plunging ranulas.

Intraoral ranulas arise from the sublingual gland on the floor of the mouth as a result of ductal obstruction and fluid retention, and they are therefore true epithelial-lined cysts.³ They slowly enlarge to form a painless, bluish, dome-shaped, fluctuant swelling of the floor of the mouth. They may also uncommonly present as a rapidly enlarging swelling following infection.⁴

A plunging ranula, which usually presents as a painless, nonmobile neck swelling,⁵ is a pseudocyst, lacking an epithelial lining and bounded only by a fibrous tissue wall.⁶ It is usually associated with an intraoral ranula⁶ and may be iatrogenic after incomplete surgical resection of an intraoral ranula.⁷ A plunging ranula occurs . . . [Full Text of this Article]

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Arch Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2003;129(4):490.
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