Osteosarcoma of the mandible mimicking an odontogenic abscess: a case report and review of the literature

Abstract

This paper highlights the need for vigilant examination of even the commonest, innocuous-appearing periapical changes which sometimes are produced by some rare fatal disorders.

Malignant tumours mimicking periapical lesions: A report of three cases and literature review

“…Other reported cases had a long period of evolution (4) with up to five years of symptoms. In our case, the first symptoms were Table 1 Cases reported on the literature involving osteosarcoma (22,26,27,28,29) and central mucoepidermoide carcinoma (11,12,25), and other malignant tumors (2,5,8,14,30,32,33,34,35,36,37,38,39,40,41,42,43,44,45,46) reported two years before the patient was evaluated by a stomatologist. The cases involving OSJ other symptoms that were useful for suspecting a malignant lesion, such as swelling, persistent pain and paraesthesia.…”

“…The malignant cases described in this study should alert clinicians to the possibility of other diseases, especially when a radiograph shows rarefaction at the periapical site like that observed in apical periodontitis and when endodontic treatment cannot resolve pain symptoms. Other authors have also reported cases of CMEC (11,23,24) and OSJ (20,25,26,27,28,29) that were initially suspected to be periapical diseases. The absence of a characteristic radiological finding of CMEC ( 15) could be a reason for the misdiagnosis.…”

“…The cases involving OSJ other symptoms that were useful for suspecting a malignant lesion, such as swelling, persistent pain and paraesthesia. Pain, tooth mobility and asymmetry (26) and numbness of the lip (9,25,26,27,28,29,30,31), have been reported as symptoms of OSJ in the literature. The widening of the entire periodontal ligament space (26,27), as observed in our cases, is also usually reported.…”