Rare diseases · Sign or symptom
Glossoptosis
Retraction of the tongue
HP:0000162
What it means
Posterior displacement of the tongue into the pharynx, i.e., a tongue that is mislocalised posteriorly.
Presumably, use of the suffix ptosis refers to the situation where the patient is supine, and the displacement is downward. Strictly speaking, the term glossoptosis indicates falling of the tongue and thus can also be forward displacement; however by convention it is only used for backward displacement. Glossoptosis may cause obstruction of the airway.
Rare diseases that can present with this23
Very common80–99%
4Common30–79%
12- Auriculocondylar syndrome
- Autosomal dominant myopia-midfacial retrusion-sensorineural hearing loss-rhizomelic dysplasia syndrome
- Autosomal dominant otospondylomegaepiphyseal dysplasia
- Carey-Fineman-Ziter syndrome
- Cerebrocostomandibular syndrome
- Contractures-developmental delay-Pierre Robin syndrome
- Hallermann-Streiff syndrome
- Hepatic fibrosis-renal cysts-intellectual disability syndrome
- Otopalatodigital syndrome type 2
- Spondyloepimetaphyseal dysplasia congenita, Strudwick type
- Stickler syndrome
- TARP syndrome
Sometimes5–29%
7- Autosomal recessive otospondylomegaepiphyseal dysplasia
- Cleidocranial dysplasia
- Cognitive impairment-coarse facies-heart defects-obesity-pulmonary involvement-short stature-skeletal dysplasia syndrome
- Spondyloepiphyseal dysplasia congenita
- Treacher-Collins syndrome
- Ventricular extrasystoles with syncopal episodes-perodactyly-Robin sequence syndrome
- Yunis-Varon syndrome
The range is how often this sign appears among people diagnosed with each disease — it is not a probability of having any of them. Many of these signs also occur in common, non-rare conditions. A sign on this page is a conversation to have with a clinician, not a conclusion.
Part of the broader category
Also called: Lingual retraction · Posterior displacement of the tongue
Tracking symptoms like this for someone? Eleplan keeps symptoms, diagnoses, medications and every specialist in one plan.
Start free with EleplanThis page uses the Human Phenotype Ontology (2026-06-23) — Human Phenotype Ontology Consortium, hpo.jax.org. Disease associations from Orphanet (INSERM), CC BY 4.0. Content is educational and is not medical advice.