RESUMO
Background: The ameloblastoma management is still challenging to the high recurrence rates and significantmorbidity associated with radical treatment. The purpose of this 10-year retrospective study was to analyze theinfluence of ameloblastoma type and treatment strategy on the long-term outcomes and recurrence rates.Material and Methods: The retrospective analyses of 64 histologically-confirmed ameloblastoma cases was per-formed. The possible risk factors for recurrence and the development of complications were estimated statistically.Results: The treatment strategy applied for this group of patients was the following: thirty-four patients (53.1%)were treated conservatively with enucleation or extended bone curettage. Radical treatment (bone resection) wasapplied in 30 (46.9%) cases. The follow-up period ranged from 2 to 10 years (mean value 4.28 ± 3,26). General re-currence rate consisted 32.8%. This study did not find significant correlations between clinical or histopathologi-cal features of the ameloblastoma and the recurrence rate. The only factor that significantly influence recurrencerate was the treatment strategy (41% in conservative treatment vs 15% in radical treatment, p<0.05). Postoperativecomplications were observed in 42 patients (65.6%) and included face asymmetry and disfigurement (17.2%), tem-porary paresthesia of the inferior alveolar nerve (IAN) - 23.4%, permanent paresthesia of IAN - 20.3%, paresisof a marginal branch of the facial nerve - 6.3%, infection 12.5%, and swelling - 20.3%. The complication rates,esthetic and functional deficiency were significantly higher in radically treated patients (p<0.05)Conclusions: Our study confirms that higher recurrence rate is associated with conservative treatment for am-eloblastoma, while radical treatment leads to an increased number of postoperative complications that affect thepatient's quality of life.(AU)
