Haemangiopericytoma of the jaw.

Haemangiopericytoma (HPC) is a vascular tumour which originates in the pericytes of vessels and therefore it may occur at any site, but it is very uncommon in the jaw. From January 2000 to December 2011, a retrospective analysis of nine consecutive patients with HPCJ was performed. There were five patients with a primary tumour and four patients with a recurrent tumour. Of the nine patients, eight were male and one female. Their ages ranged from 23 years to 51 years, with a median age of 38 years. The tumours were located in the mandible in six patients and in maxilla in three cases. The median course of disease was 7.6 months (range 2-12 months). All patients underwent surgery. Two patients had postoperative adjuvant radiotherapy, and two cases were given postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy. The median follow-up period was 49 months (10-101 months). One patient suffered from lumbar metastasis, while another case had metastasis at local and multiple distant sites, and eventually died. There was no local recurrence or metastasis in other seven cases. HPCJ are rare and the clinical characteristics are not specific. The first choice of treatment is radical surgery. Adjuvant radiotherapy may be effective to improve the prognosis of HPCJ.

An alternative approach for mandible reconstruction.

The regeneration of bony defects of the mandible using free vascularized bone grafts has become a reliable procedure during the last few years. Various donor sites are available to provide vascularized bone grafts for mandibular reconstruction such as the fibula flap, the iliac flap, and the scapula flap; the fibula flap has become the most popular workhorse flap to reconstruct the lower jaw for extensive surgical defects. It is a challenge for head and neck reconstructive surgeons if the patient (mostly the manual worker) refuses to use fibular flap to reconstruct an extensive mandible defect or the patients have contraindication to harvest fibular flap. We have performed 7 cases using computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing prefabricated titanium mesh combined with autogenous iliac cancellous bone graft plus with/without boiled nontumorous mandible bone to reconstruct such cases. Primary wound healing was achieved in all patients without complication, and reconstructive complications were not observed during the follow-up period. The patients were satisfied with the results both esthetically and functionally. This preliminary clinical study and cases demonstrate that it is a feasible alternative method to reconstruct mandibular defects, especially when vascularized bone grafting is not available.

Clinical analysis of 194 cases of head and neck hamartoma.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to analyze the clinical management of hamartomas in the head and neck region (HNH). STUDY DESIGN: From January 1996 to December 2011, a retrospective analysis of 194 patients with HNH was performed. The preoperative examinations, surgical treatment, and prognosis were recorded and analyzed. RESULTS: Of the 194 patients, 107 were male and 87 female. Their ages ranged from 1 month to 82 years with a mean of 33 years. The most common locations were the oral mucosa (68.6%) and head and neck skin (27.3%). The course of disease ranged from 1 to 264 months with a mean of 66 months. Routine laboratory examinations were within normal limits. All patients underwent surgical removal of the lesions and prognosis was good. CONCLUSIONS: The clinical characteristics of HNH are not specific, and the clinical manifestation is always the same for benign tumors. The first choice of treatment is surgical excision, which results in a good prognosis.