An unusual case of recurrent gingival hirsutism
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Fig. 1
Extraoral facial examination of the patient revealed the presence of exuberant hair on the chin and neck regions.
Fig. 2
Brown hairs, coming out in correspondence of the gingival sulcus between the free gingiva and the maxillary incisors.
Fig. 3
A, Low-power magnification of the specimen (hematoxylin/eosin stain; original magnification × 4). B, High-power magnification showing the section of the hair in the stroma (hematoxylin/eosin stain; original magnification × 20).
Fig. 4
A, B, Hairs in zone of the facial surface of teeth #4 and #5. C, Removed hairs. D, Hairs in the zone of the palatal surface of teeth #12 and #13. E, Palatal surface of #14. F, Hairs in the zone of the facial surface of teeth #26.
Objectives
The occurrence of hairs in the oral cavity is an exceedingly rare event, with unknown etiology. A literature review found only 5 cases, most of which described a single hair localized in various sites of the oral cavity. The aim of the present article is to report a follow-up presentation of a rare case of oral hirsutism detected in a young woman.
Case Presentation
A 25-year-old woman with previously diagnosed polycystic ovary syndrome returned to our attention 6 years after the first intervention, complaining of the presence of oral hairs. Extraoral facial examination revealed the presence of exuberant hair on the chin and neck regions. Intraoral examination showed some brown hair, similar to eyelashes, which were removed and the underlying tissue histologically analyzed. One year later, the patient came back with even more widespread presence of oral hairs distributed on the gingivae of both arches.
Conclusions
The occurrence of hairs in the oral cavity is an extremely rare finding. The etiology is still unknown; however, an investigation of systemic health is always desirable because more complex medical conditions may be present and not recognized.
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