Glossal abscesses are extremely rare, only 29 cases having been described in the last 28 years. Clinical and ultrasound examination should establish the diagnosis, and treatment should be by surgical incision and drainage. We report a case of glossal abscess presenting as a unilateral swelling of the tongue.

A case is presented of a rare congenital anomaly of the fourth branchial arch, which presented as an abscess in the anterior triangle, related to a fistula communicating with the pyriform fossa. Histopathological examination showed the fistula to be associated with thyroid tissue supporting the hypothesis that the ventral wing of the fourth pouch contributes to the thyroid gland.

Tumours at the skull base may show perineural infiltration of the mandibular nerve. Subsequent retrograde spread into the cavernous sinus, Gasserian ganglion, the trigeminal nerve and the pons may be seen. The patient, a known and treated case of nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC), complained of trigeminal neuralgia and difficulty in chewing. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) revealed a Gasserian ganglion and trigeminal infiltration with resultant atrophy of the muscles innervated by the mandibular nerve. Proximal cranial nerve involvement should be suspected in patients with skull base malignancy presenting with trigeminal neuralgia. MRI is the modality of choice in delineating the pathological process.

We present an extremely rare case of epithelial-myoepithelial carcinoma (EMC) arising in the nasal cavity. The patient was a 56-year-old Japanese male with a polypoid tumour arising from the nasal septum. Histopathological examination revealed the tumour to consist of a solid proliferation of clear-cells and, in some areas, small or elongated duct structures with a double-layered arrangement of inner cuboidal cells and outer clear-cells. Dual differentiation toward myoepithelial and ductal cells were confirmed immunohistochemically. The occurrence of EMC in the nasal cavity is possible and this entity should be generally recognized by surgical pathologists, not only those engaged in head and neck surgery.

A 36-year-old patient with a primary leiomyosarcoma of the left parotid gland is presented. To our knowledge this is only the second case of a parotid leiomyosarcoma in the world according to the literature review.