Yin-Yang tongue sign: An imaging clue of lesions involving the skull base segment in the hypoglossal pathway

Objective: To investigate the diagnostic value of the Yin-Yang tongue sign in patients with tongue deviation.

Methods: According to the presence of the Yin-Yang tongue sign on CT/MR, 107 patients with tongue deviation were divided into a positive group and a negative group. The involvement categories of the hypoglossal canal (HC) in the positive group were evaluated and classified as HC dilation and HC erosion. The correlations between HC involvement categories and the presence of the sign were analysed.

Results: There were 55 cases (55/107, 51.4%) in the positive group and 52 cases (52/107, 48.6%) in the negative group. Hypoglossal nerve (HN) involvement mainly occurred in the skull base (61.8%), skull base and carotid space (10.9%), and carotid space segment (12.7%). Neurogenic (50.9%), squamous cell carcinoma (14.5%), and metastases (12.7%) were the predominant aetiologies. The sensitivity, specificity, and accuracy of this sign for suggesting skull base lesions around HC were 72.4%, 80.8%, and 76.6%, respectively. In the positive group, HC dilation was seen in 21 patients (21/55, 38.2%) and 21 cases were all benign. HC erosion were noted in 19 patients (19/55, 34.5%), of whom 12 cases were malignant.

Conclusion: The Yin-Yang tongue sign is formed by unilateral tongue atrophy and fat infiltration caused by lesions in the HN pathway, especially compressive or invasive lesions involving the skull base segment.