極其罕見的醫(yī)學病例：一名婦女的牙齦長出了毛

極其罕見的醫(yī)學病例：一名婦女的牙齦長出了毛

From time to time, we all need to pull out the odd hair that's grown out of place. But we're willing to bet that one spot you've never needed to pluck is your gums.

有時候，我們需要拔掉長得不太合適的、奇怪的毛發(fā)。但我打賭，你永遠不需要拔的地方是你的牙齦。

Just over 10 years ago, a 19-year-old woman met with doctors at the University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli in Italy, providing them with a rare case of what's known in the medical field as gingival hirsutism.

就在10多年前，一名19歲的女性在意大利坎帕尼亞大學(University of Campania Luigi Vanvitelli)與醫(yī)生見面，為他們提供了一個罕見的病例，在醫(yī)學領域被稱為牙齦多毛癥。

To translate, they found a scattering of eyelash-like hairs protruding from the soft tissues directly behind her upper front teeth.

通過研究，他們在她上門牙后面的軟組織里，發(fā)現了一堆睫毛狀的毛發(fā)。

A dig through the literature revealed just five other similar cases – all men – dating back to the 1960s.

通過對相關文獻的挖掘，我們發(fā)現了另外五個類似的案例——都是男性——可以追溯到20世紀60年代。

The hairs were removed surgically, and following a course of oral contraceptives to help address the imbalance of hormones, the patient returned to a mouth-hair-free life. For a while, at least.

這些毛發(fā)通過手術去除，并通過口服避孕藥來幫助激素平衡，病人恢復了無口腔毛發(fā)的生活。至少有一段時間。

Six years later the unnamed patient returned to the clinic. Having stopped the hormonal medication, her gingival hirsutism had returned.

六年后，這位不知名的病人回到了診所。停止激素治療后，她的牙齦多毛癥又復發(fā)了。

This time the medical team didn't just remove the hairs; they took an opportunity to take a small section of tissue for a closer look under the microscope, finding a hair shaft pushing its way through unusually thickened tissues of her gums.

這一次，醫(yī)療小組不僅僅是把頭發(fā)拔掉;他們抓住機會取了一小塊組織，在顯微鏡下仔細觀察，發(fā)現一根毛干穿過她牙齦上異常增厚的組織。

A year on and her condition had worsened, with hairs emerging from even more sites around her mouth.

一年過去了，她的病情惡化了，口腔周圍的毛發(fā)更多了。

There is no clear explanation for this anomalous presence of one relatively common finding and the absence of the other in the oral mucosa, the specialists write.

專家們寫道:“在口腔粘膜中，一種相對常見的異常發(fā)現，和另一種相對少見的異常發(fā)現之間并沒有明確的解釋。”

There's no word on whether the patient has since returned to the prescribed medication, or if she continues to deal with hair growth among her teeth. It's also unclear if the dental abnormality affects her health in other ways, or is even uncomfortable.

目前還不清楚病人是否已經恢復了藥物治療，或者她是否還在繼續(xù)處理牙齒上的毛發(fā)生長。目前還不清楚牙齒畸形是否在其他方面影響了她的健康，甚至是不舒服。

With one more case in the medical records at least, pathologists are a bit more prepared for the next time a patient appears with hair sprouting where it shouldn't.

至少在醫(yī)療記錄中還有一個病例，病理學家已經為下一次病人出現在不該出現的地方長出毛發(fā)做了更多的準備。

The case study was published in Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology, Oral Radiology.

該病例研究發(fā)表在《口腔外科、口腔醫(yī)學、口腔病理學、口腔放射學》雜志上。