Abstract:

Background: Ameloblastomas are rare odontogenic neoplasms of the mandible and maxilla. They have high recurrence rates if improperly treated. Due to their aggressive nature and high recurrence rate, treatment remains a matter of debate. Complete excision of the lesion with the least morbidity would be the therapeutic challenge. Case Report: A 67 years old woman complained of swelling on her left jaw four years ago, the jaw was small swelling initially, and then it has grown to the size of a tennis ball. She had a history of similar swelling on the same site 12 years back for which she was operated on (enucleation). On physical examination, there is a mass in the left mandibular bone above the surgical wound, hard, painless and motionless, with a size of 18 cm x 11 cm x 11 cm. Plain x-ray examination showed multiple cystic lesions in the left mandible. In this case, segmental mandibular resection was performed, followed by reconstruction using a K-wire. Discussion: Many treatment options range from conservative treatment of curettage, enucleation to radical surgical approaches of wide margin excision. Radical treatment approaches have the advantage of lowering the recurrence rates but at the same time pose extremely difficult challenges of reconstruction of the surgical defects. Conclusion: Ameloblastoma has high recurrence rate if it is not treated properly. At least 1 cm of healthy bone should be removed during surgical procedure beyond panoramic radiograph visible margins. In our patient, though radical surgery eliminated a large possibility of recurrence.

Keywords: