RESUMEN
Introduction: Trigeminal neuralgia is an agonising orofacial pain affecting unilaterally the distribution of the trigeminal nerve and it usually occurs in the middle and older age groups. Carbamazepine which is an anti-neuralgic as well as an anti-convulsant medication is the first line drug for treatment of trigeminal neuralgia. It is commonly taken as one tablet (200 mg) three times a day. Materials and Methods: This is an observational study carried out from April to September 2014 to determine how Muslim patients on carbamazepine treatment for trigeminal neuralgia cope with their neuralgic pain. The pattern of how the medication was taken during the fasting month of Ramadan was also observed. Results: A total of 29 patients participated in this study and 27(93%) observed the fast. Ten of them adjusted the carbamazepine dose from three times pre-Ramadan to twice daily during the fasting month. Three patients continued fasting despite feeling the pain during the daytime while five patients had their pain under control with the newly adjusted dose. Conclusion: Medical professionals should advise trigeminal neuralgia patients on how to take and adjust their carbamazepine dose during the fasting month.
RESUMEN
Oral myofibroma is a rare tumour which usually occurs in children and has been reported in the mandible, tongue, buccal mucosa with only a few cases reported from the gingiva. It appears alarming clinically due to its fast growth which may mimic a malignancy. However, it is completely benign and is usually treated by complete surgical excision with excellent prognosis. Clinically, myofibroma presents as a single swelling when it occurs on the gingiva, and more common lesions such as fibrous epulis, pyogenic granuloma and peripheral odontogenic fibroma, myofibroma are usually considered in the differential diagnosis. We present 4 additional cases of gingival myofibroma in children. Their ages ranged from 7 to 14 years. Three were girls and 1 patient was a boy. All presented with solitary gingival growths, ranging from 3 weeks to 2 months in duration, and raised the clinical diagnoses of peripheral giant cell granuloma, pyogenic granuloma and fibrous epulis. Histopathology of incisional biopsies revealed proliferation of streaming and whorled fascicles of spindle cells around slit-like vascular spaces. The spindle cells were cytologically bland and were immunopositive for vimentin and smooth muscle actin, but were negative for desmin and S-100 protein. All were treated by surgical excision.