OBJECTIVETo further understand the clinical features of chronic sublinguitis (CS) and to guide the clinical practice by a retrospective study.

METHODS18 cases with CS were enrolled in the retrospective study and the age, gender, history of present illness, signs, diagnosis and treatment were analyzed.

RESULTSIn 18 patients with CS, 15 patients (83.33%) had palpable masses. 8 masses (53.33%) had poor-defined borders, 11 masses (73.33%) were unmovable. There were only 3 patients (16.67%) who were diagnosed correctly in all 18 cases, while 10 patients (55.56%) were diagnosed as tumor.

CONCLUSIONCS are often misdiagnosed as sublingual gland tumor and the way to confirm diagnosis is pathological examination. Auxiliary examination should be used properly with clinical manifestation to make the right diagnosis.