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Course: Black Hairy Tongue

CME Credits: 1.00

Released: 2022-03-09

A man in his 50s presented to the dermatology department with a painless thick black coating on his tongue. Three months prior he had experienced a cerebrovascular incident with dense hemiplegia, and his caregivers first noticed the black pigmentation over the dorsum of the tongue 15 days before presentation. He was being fed a diet of pureed food and liquids and was taking oral antiplatelets and antihypertensives.
On examination, he did not have a fever and was conscious and oriented, with left-sided motor weakness. The dorsal aspect of his tongue showed a thick black coating that was yellowish toward the medial and proximal parts. The lateral borders, tip, and central part of median sulcus were spared (, A). Dermoscopy results (, B) showed thin, elongated, black fibers that gave the appearance of a hairy surface. Amorphous yellowish deposits were visible peripherally. Mucosal scrapings from the lingual surface grew normal bacterial flora on culture. No fungal growth was isolated. With these findings, a diagnosis of black hairy tongue (BHT) was made. The patient and caregivers were given advice regarding proper cleansing measures, and the discoloration resolved after 20 days.


Educational Objective
To identify the key insights or developments described in this article


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