Glossitis is usually very painful, and there may be erosions present in the depths of the fissures. Similar fissured lesions which are not associated with HSV, as may occur in fissured tongue, do not tend to be painful. The name comes from the geometric pattern of the fissures which are longitudinal, crossed or branched. It is described as occurring in immunocompromized persons, e.g. who have leukemia. However, the association between herpes simplex and geometric glossitis is disputed by some due to a lack of gold standard techniques for diagnosis of intraoral herpetic lesions, and the high prevalence of asymptomatic viral shedding
American Board of Disaster Medicine Specialists (AAPS) commissioned an expert panel to undertake a scholarly review of the literature and survey the recognized experts in disaster management, emergency management, medical contingency planning, emergency medicine, public health, disaster behavioral health and military medicine to determine if such a unique body of knowledge and skills existed. By February 2004 it was determined that the majority of experts, supported by the available literature, agreed that there is a unique body of core knowledge and skills to define the specialty of Disaster Medicine and a broader body of knowledge needed by all healthcare practitioners responding to a disaster event.