Oral malignant melanoma--an unusual presentation.

Malignant melanoma is the least common but most deadly of all primary skin cancers. Oral malignant melanoma is a rare aggressive neoplasm usually seen in middle aged persons. This malignancy is more frequently seen on the hard palate and gingiva. Oral melanomas are associated with very poor prognosis because of the tendency to metastasise or invade tissues locally more readily than other malignant tumours of the oral cavity especially in the case of a geriatric patient. The surgical approach, combined with the chemotherapy, is the first choice treatment. This report highlights a case report of 71-year-old female patient diagnosed and treated surgically for an oral malignant melanoma of the pedunculated variety affecting the hard palate and gingiva with review of literature.

Parry-romberg syndrome: a rare case report.

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this report is to present a rare entity of Parry-Romberg syndrome. This poorly understood degenerative condition is characterised by atrophic changes affecting one side of the face. The cause of these changes remains obscure. METHODS: The authors report one rare case of a 31 year old female patient with Parry-Romberg syndrome, accompanied by a brief review of literature. RESULTS: Clinical examination of the patient revealed evident facial asymmetry, malar hypoplasia, atrophy of skin and other tissues on the left side, hyperpigmentation of skin on the left side of the face. Final diagnosis of a Parry-Romberg syndrome ("progressive hemifacial atrophy") was based on thorough clinical and a radiological examination. Treatment using alloplastic implants to improve facial disfigurement was suggested to the patient. CONCLUSIONS: In most cases, Parry-Romberg syndrome appears to occur randomly for unknown reasons. The pathophysiology of the syndrome remains unknown. There is no definitive treatment for this condition but an attempt to use restorative plastic surgery which includes fat or silicone implants, flap/pedicle grafts, or bone implants can be done to improve facial disfigurement.

Desmoplastic ameloblastoma: a report of two clinical cases

Desmoplastic ameloblastoma is a relatively rare histological variant of ameloblastoma with specific clinical, radiological, and histological features. Although radiographic examination of ameloblastomas usually reveals unilocular or multilocular radiolucency, desmoplastic ameloblastoma may appearas a mixed radiopaque-radiolucent lesion resembling benign fibro-osseous lesions. Histologically, desmoplastic ameloblastoma is characterized by small nests and strands of “compressed”odontogenic epithelium supported by pronounced collagenized stroma. This report describes two cases of desmoplastic ameloblastoma in the anterior maxilla of a female patient and the anterior mandible of a male patient, mimicking clinically as an odontogenic cyst.