Case Report
Caliber-Persistent Artery
Sabrina Araújo Pinho Costa,
1
Marcelo Martinson Ruiz,
1
Shajadi Pardo Kaba,
1
Giovanna Piacenza Florezi,
1
Celso Augusto Lemos Júnior,
2,3
and Andréa Lusvarghi Witzel
3,4
1
Department of Stomatology, School of Dentistry, University of S˜ ao Paulo, Avenida Professor Lineu Prestes,
2227 Cidade Universit´ aria, 05508-000 S˜ ao Paulo, SP, Brazil
2
School of Dentistry, University of S˜ ao Paulo, Avenida Professor Lineu Prestes, 2227 Cidade Universit´ aria,
05508-000 S˜ ao Paulo, SP, Brazil
3
Department of Stomatology Oral Medicine, School of Dentistry, University of S˜ ao Paulo, Avenida Professor Lineu Prestes,
2227 Cidade Universit´ aria, 05508-000 S˜ ao Paulo, SP, Brazil
4
Foundation for Scientifc and Technological Development of Dentistry, School of Dentistry, University of S˜ ao Paulo,
Avenida Professor Lineu Prestes, 2227 Cidade Universit´ aria, 05508-000 S˜ ao Paulo, SP, Brazil
Correspondence should be addressed to Sabrina Ara´ ujo Pinho Costa; binapinho@hotmail.com
Received 23 June 2015; Accepted 24 August 2015
Academic Editor: Scardina G. Alessandro
Copyright © 2015 Sabrina Ara´ ujo Pinho Costa et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons
Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is
properly cited.
Caliber-persistent artery (CPLA) of the lip is a common vascular anomaly in which a main arterial branch extends to the surface of
the mucous tissue with no reduction in its diameter. It usually manifests as pulsatile papule, is easily misdiagnosed, and is observed
more frequently among older people, suggesting that its development may involve a degenerative process associated with aging;
CPLA is also characterized by the loss of tone of the adjacent supporting connective tissue. Although the diagnosis is clinical, high-
resolution Doppler ultrasound is a useful noninvasive tool for evaluating the lesion. Tis report describes the case of a 58-year-old
male patient who complained of a lesion of the lower lip with bleeding and recurrent ulceration. Te patient was successfully treated
in our hospital afer a diagnosis of CPLA and is currently undergoing a clinical outpatient follow-up with no complaints.
1. Introduction
A caliber-persistent artery (CPLA) of the lip is a primary
arterial branch that enters the submucosal tissue and shows
no reduction in its diameter [1, 2]. Tis vascular anomaly has
been described in the stomach and jejunum under diferent
designations, including arterial malformation, Dieulafoy’s
disease, and cirsoid aneurysm, among others [3, 4].
Tis type of abnormal artery was frst described in the
oral cavity in 1973 by Howell and Freeman, who designated
it as “prominent inferior labial artery” [5], and this study
was followed by a series of other studies that used the term
“caliber-persistent artery” [1, 2, 6–15].
Te lesion presents as a papular, arcuate, or linear ele-
vation with a normal or bluish pale color. In general, the
artery becomes inconspicuous when the lip is stretched. Te
characteristic feature of this disorder is lateral and vertical
pulsation. Te lesion is initially asymptomatic and usually
diagnosed during a routine clinical examination. Te patient
may occasionally notice an increase in the pulse volume in
the lip [3].
Microscopically, the lesion is characterized by a normal
muscular artery with an irregular lumen and a size that is
unusual for its location in the submucosa [5, 12].
CPLAs occur almost exclusively on the lip mucosa and
can afect both the upper and lower lips [1, 13, 14], and some
patients can present with bilateral lesions or lesions in both
lips [2, 12]. Te average age of onset is approximately 50 years,
and the disorder afects both genders in equal proportions.
Some cases may be associated with ulceration of the
mucosal lining, and other rare cases may occur adjacent to
a lip squamous cell carcinoma. CPLAs are occasionally asso-
ciated with ulceration [6, 8, 9] and can be clinically diagnosed
as squamous cell carcinoma [9]. Miko et al. [7] described
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
Case Reports in Dentistry
Volume 2015, Article ID 747428, 5 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2015/747428