Chronic idiopathic macrocheilia associated with simple lip enlargement and salivary gland hyperplasia

Abstract

Chronic macrocheilia is a relatively rare condition of chronic lip enlargement. It can be cosmetically and functionally problematic, and often poses a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge to clinicians especially when its etiology is unclear. We describe a 40-year-old Korean man who presented with a 4-year history of lower lip swelling and was diagnosed as having chronic idiopathic macrocheilia after excluding other disease entities based on histopathological and clinical findings. We believe that the present case has a unique clinico-histopathological feature that differentiates it from other cases of chronic cheilitis, namely, simple lip swelling showing minor salivary gland hyperplasia only, suggesting the possibility of a new disease entity.