MANDIBULAR OSTEOBLASTOMA: REPORT OF 3 CASES

Osteochondroma of the mandibular inferior border: an atypical case

An osteochondroma is an osseous protuberance with cartilaginous growth potential, usually arising in skeletal bone and relatively uncommon in the craniofacial bone. Osteochondroma of the craniofacial region usually occurs at the condyle or the tip of the coronoid process, and rarely arises in the mandibular body, symphysis, ramus, and similar areas. Excision of the lesion including the periosteum is curative, and recurrence or malignant change (usually to a chondrosarcoma) after treatment is rare. We present an atypical case of osteochondroma in the left mandibular inferior border with review of literature.

Intramuscular hemangioma formation in the masseter muscle: a case report

Hemangioma is a benign vascular proliferation. Intramuscular hemangiomas are rare, accounting for less than 1% of all hemangiomas, and occur normally in the trunk and extremities. Approximately 10-20% of intramuscular hemangiomas are found in the head and neck region, most often in the masseter muscles. The typical clinical characteristic is a painful soft tissue mass without cutaneous changes. The suggested treatment is a surgical excision. We report a case of an intramuscular hemagnioma of the masseter muscle. The patient was a 56 year old male who visited our clinic complaining of left facial swelling after 2 years of follow up at a different clinic. After magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), the mass was excised under general anesthesia. The biopsy revealed the mass to be an intramuscular hemangioma. We report the clinical and pathological characteristics as well as the treatment of a case of an intramuscular hemangioma of the masseter muscle.

Transoral removal of proximal submandibular stone: report of 5 cases and review of the literature

The submandibular gland is the second largest major salivary gland, which secretes 40% of the total daily saliva. Owing to its anatomic characteristics as well as the high viscosity and basicity of the saliva, sialolithiasis is found most commonly in the submandibular gland. Sialolithiasis that cannot be treated by conservative treatment is conventionally removed by an excision of the submandibular gland. Generally, an excision of the submandibular gland is performed via an extra-oral approach but the disadvantages of this treatment include a risk of injuring the facial nerve and scar formation. Case reports have revealed an even less invasive intraoral surgical technique for the removal of sialolith that does not affect the submandibular gland function. The functional recovery of the gland, complications and recurrence rates after surgery with this conservative intraoral procedure were all successful. We report 5 patients from the department of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at Dental Hospital, Yonsei University, who had undergone a resection of the sialolith though the intraoral approach with successful results.