Clinical characteristics of angioleiomyoma of the hard palate: report of a case and an analysis of the reported cases.

Angioleiomyoma is a rare, benign tumor often found in the uterine myometrium, gastrointestinal tract, and skin and seldom observed in the oral and maxillofacial region. The most common site of occurrence in the oral cavity is the lip, followed by the palate, buccal mucosa, and tongue. The number of reports associated with angioleiomyoma arising from the hard palate is very small. The tumor is histologically characterized by the proliferation of mature smooth muscle cells and numerous blood vessels. When the diagnosis is difficult, specific immunohistochemistry is used. This report describes a case of angioleiomyoma in which there was a chronically increasing lesion for 5 years on the left hard palate and the means for making a definitive diagnosis was based on previous reports on angioleiomyoma of the palate.