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© 2005 by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine
J Ultrasound Med 24:1295-1301 • 0278-4297

Case Series

Ultrasonography: A Noninvasive Tool to Diagnose a Caliber-Persistent Labial Artery, an Enlarged Artery of the Lip

Lydia Vazquez, MD, DMD, Tommaso Lombardi, MD, DMD, PD, Hayat Guinand-Mkinsi, MD and Jacky Samson, MD

Department of Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine and Oral Maxillofacial Radiology, School of Dental Medicine, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland (L.V., T.L., J.S.); and private practice, Geneva, Switzerland (H.G.-M.).

Address correspondence to Lydia Vazquez, MD, DMD, Department of Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, and Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, School of Dental Medicine, University of Geneva, Rue Barthelemy-Menn 19, 1205 Geneva, Switzerland. E-mail: lydia.vazquez{at}medecine.unige.ch

Objective. Currently, practitioners use clinical and histopathologic examination to diagnose a caliber-persistent labial artery (CPLA). We illustrate the use of ultrasonography as a noninvasive diagnostic tool to visualize this enlarged artery of the lip. Methods. We examined the lips of 3 patients with a suspected CPLA. We localized and determined the extension of the intralabial artery with ultrasonography, including pulsed and color Doppler analysis. We compared the sonograms to the clinical and histopathologic findings. Results. Sonograms showed clear enlargement of the labial artery in the 3 cases. The course of the constant-diameter artery was either vertical or oblique from the depth of the lip to the surface of the mucosa. This vascular abnormality was confirmed by histopathologic examination. Conclusions. Ultrasonography and color Doppler imaging may be useful noninvasive tools for the diagnosis and preoperative evaluation, as well as the follow-up, of labial lesions related to a CPLA, thus eliminating the need for diagnostic surgery in typical pulsatile nodules. Ultrasonography may help distinguish a CPLA from other vascular lesions of the lip such as an aneurysm. Atypical cases or chronic ulcerations mimicking a cancer should undergo biopsy so that a malignant process is not missed.

Key Words: caliber-persistent artery • labial artery • lip diseases • ulcer • ultrasonography

Abbreviations: CPLA, caliber-persistent labial artery

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Copyright © 2005 by the American Institute of Ultrasound in Medicine.