The Melkersson-Rosenthal syndrome is a rare disease of unknown pathogenesis. 
Classical signs include recurrent facial palsy, lingua plicata and orofacial 
edema. The diagnosis is often difficult when all features are not present at the 
same time: in the literature complete triads occurred in 25-30% of the patients. 
We report a case of Melkersson-Rosenthal syndrome with classical triad of signs 
in a 13 year old boy. The pathology, clinical features and management of this 
disease are discussed: the possible role of food allergy or additives 
intolerance is also examined.