CLINICAL CASES   

Rivista Italiana di Chirurgia Maxillo-Facciale 2002 December;13(3):169-72

Copyright © 2003 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

language: English

The aneurysmal bone cyst of the jaws. Report of two cases

Maremonti P., Mazzocchi D., Lancellotti L., Stea S.

Department of Maxillo-Facial Surgery Bellaria Hospital, Bologna

Aneurysmal Bone Cyst (­ABC) is a ­benign, sol­i­tary ­lesion of ­the ­bone ­first ­described by Jaffe ­and Lichtenstein in 1942. It ­most fre­quent­ly devel­ops in ­the met­a­phy­ses of ­long ­bones ­and ver­te­bral bod­ies. ­ABC in ­the cra­nio-­facial ­area ­presents an inci­dence of 3% ­and it ­occurs ­more fre­quent­ly in ­the man­dible ­than in ­the max­il­la. Two ­groups of ­ABC ­have ­been iden­ti­fied ­based on ­the aetio­lo­gy: pri­mary ­ABC (con­gen­i­tal ­and ­acquired) ­and sec­on­dary ­ABC. The ­most com­mon clin­i­cal fea­ture is ­local swell­ing relat­ed to ­bone expan­sion. Pain or ten­der­ness on pal­pa­tion ­might be ­observed. At x-­ray, ­ABC ­appears to be mul­ti­loc­u­lar or uni­loc­u­lar ­with expan­sion ­and thin­ning of ­the sur­round­ing cor­ti­cal ­bone. The Authors ­report ­two cas­es of ­ABC of ­the ­jaws, ­observed at ­the Maxillofacial Surgery Department of Bellaria Hospital, Bologna (Italy) ­and exam­ine ­the sev­er­al treat­ment choic­es.