CASE REPORT   

Otorinolaringologia 2020 March;70(1):11-4

DOI: 10.23736/S0392-6621.19.02238-0

Copyright © 2019 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

The surgical management of an ameloblastoma in a 12-year-old girl

Camilla DOSIO, Irene ROMEO, Stefano FRANCHI, Paolo BOFFANO, Matteo BRUCOLI ✉

Division of Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Eastern Piedmont, Novara, Italy

Ameloblastoma is the most common epithelial odontogenic tumor, representing about 11% of odontogenic neoplasms. It develops from the dental lamina or basal cells of the oral epithelium and it is often due to a proliferation of enamel tissue which does not undergo complete differentiation. It appears most commonly in the third to fifth decades, with patients’ mean age at the time of diagnosis being 35.9 years, whereas it occurs infrequently in the pediatric population. Both in adults and children, most ameloblastomas develop in the body and angle of the mandible with 70% of these arising in the molar-ramus area. They are occasionally associated with unerupted third molar tooth. Management of ameloblastoma is still debated. Surgery is the treatment of choice, although both conservative and radical surgery have been proposed. The purpose of this article is to present and discuss the management of a case of unicystic ameloblastoma in a twelve-year-old patient.

KEY WORDS: Ameloblastoma; Child; Disease management