• Patients with superficial mucoceles report small fluid-filled vesicles on the soft palate, the retromolar pad, the posterior buccal mucosa, and, occasionally, the lower labial mucosa. (medscape.com)
  • Regarding superficial mucoceles, trauma does not always appear to play an important role in the pathogenesis. (medscape.com)
  • In large cervical ranulas, dysphagia and respiratory distress may be the chief complaints. (medscape.com)
  • Ranulas are mucoceles that occur in the floor of the mouth and usually involve the major salivary glands. (medscape.com)
  • These lesions are divided into 2 types: oral ranulas and cervical or plunging ranulas. (medscape.com)
  • Oral ranulas are secondary to mucus extravasation that pools superior to the mylohyoid muscle, whereas cervical ranulas are associated with mucus extravasation along the fascial planes of the neck. (medscape.com)
  • Fine-needle aspiration of the contents of oral and cervical ranulas may be helpful in the diagnosis prior to excision and subsequent surgery. (medscape.com)
  • Oral and cervical ranulas require complete excision of the oral portion of the ranula, in addition to the responsible gland. (medscape.com)
  • Surgical excision with the submission of the tissue for histopathologic examination is the treatment of choice for persistent oral mucoceles and ranulas. (medscape.com)
  • The development of mucoceles and ranulas depend on the disruption of the flow of saliva from the secretory apparatus of the salivary glands. (medscape.com)
  • The mucus extravasation of the sublingual gland almost exclusively causes cervical ranulas. (medscape.com)
  • In individuals with a cervical ranula, an enlarging asymptomatic neck mass is reported. (medscape.com)
  • One fifth of patients with cervical ranula have only a cervical swelling, lacking an oral ranula or a history of an oral ranula. (medscape.com)
  • A ranula is a mucus extravasation cyst involving a sublingual gland and is a type of mucocele found on the floor of the mouth. (wikipedia.org)
  • A ranula usually presents as a translucent, blue, dome-shaped, fluctuant swelling in the tissues of the floor of the mouth. (wikipedia.org)
  • A cervical ranula presents as a swelling in the neck, with or without a swelling in the mouth. (wikipedia.org)
  • The lesion is a mucous extravasation cyst (mucocele) of the floor of mouth, although a ranula is often larger than other mucoceles (mainly because the overlying mucosa is thicker). (wikipedia.org)
  • A cervical ranula occurs when the spilled mucin dissects its way through the mylohyoid muscle, which separates the sublingual space from the submandibular space, and creates a swelling in the neck. (wikipedia.org)
  • A ranula is a type of mucocele, and therefore could be classified as a disorder of the salivary glands. (wikipedia.org)
  • An unusual variant is the cervical ranula (also called a plunging or diving ranula), where the swelling is in the neck rather than the floor of the mouth. (wikipedia.org)
  • Collectively, the mucocele, the oral ranula, and the cervical, or plunging, ranula are clinical terms for a pseudocyst that is associated with mucus extravasation into the surrounding soft tissues. (medscape.com)
  • Rarely, the mucocele arises within the submandibular gland and presents as a plunging ranula. (medscape.com)
  • Tenderness is absent Fluctuation test is positive Transillumination test is positive Cervical lymph nodes are not enlarged. (wikipedia.org)
  • No other abnormalities, including palpable submandibular and cervical lymph nodes, were found. (9lib.co)
  • The clinical features associated with mucoceles include a nontender, mobile, dome-shaped enlargement with intact epithelium that lies over it. (medscape.com)
  • Mucoceles, which are of minor salivary gland origin, are also referred to as mucus retention phenomenon and mucus escape reaction. (medscape.com)
  • Mucoceles usually require excisional biopsy and removal of the servicing minor salivary glands. (medscape.com)
  • The superficial mucocele, a special variant, has features that resemble a mucocutaneous disease. (medscape.com)
  • Studies have revealed increased levels of matrix metalloproteins, tumor necrosis factor-alpha, type IV collagenase, and plasminogen activators in mucoceles compared with that of whole saliva. (medscape.com)