ZEBRA XXVI Part 1

JOURNAL OF ENDODONTICS Copyright © 2003 by The American Association of Endodontists

Printed in U.S.A. VOL. 29, NO. 7, JULY 2003

ZEBRA XXVI Part 1 Giuseppe Colella, MD, DDS, Rita Strocchi, MD, Antonio Lanza, MD, and Adriano Piattelli, MD, DDS

CASE HISTORY During a routine panoramic examination, the presence of a radiolucent area of the left posterior mandible was discovered in a 20-yr-old female patient (Fig. 1). This radiolucent lesion was unilocular, had distinct margins, and a scalloped outline. No history of trauma to the jaws was present in the past medical history. The patient was affected, since birth, by type II familial dyslipidemia. The intraoral examination was negative. The lesion was completely asymptomatic. Blood examination showed the presence of hypertriglyceridemia (1366 mg/dl) and hypercholesterolemia (266 mg/dl). A CAT scan showed a radiolucent area of the left mandible, with distinct borders and enlargement of the mental foramen (Fig. 2). You are asked to consider the differential diagnosis for this case during the next month. In the next issue of the Journal, the possibilities will be discussed and the most likely interpretation given. The following pathologies are suggested in the differential diagnosis: radicular cyst, traumatic bone cyst, central giant cell

FIG 2. CAT scan shows a radiolucent area of the left mandible, with distinct borders and enlargement of the mental foramen.

granuloma, intraosseous neurilemmoma, odontogenic keratocyst, aneurysmal bone cyst, odontogenic myxoma, ameloblastoma, intraosseous hemangioma, rarities. Dr. Colella is associate professor of maxillofacial surgery, and Dr. Lanza is research fellow, Institute of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Second University of Naples (SUN), Naples, Italy. Dr. Strocchi is professor, and Dr. Piattelli is professor of oral medicine and pathology, Dental School, University of Chieti, Italy.

FIG 1. Radiolucent area of the left posterior mandible with distinct margins and a scalloped outline.

Address requests for reprints to Prof. Adriano Piattelli, MD, DDS, Via F. Sciucchi 63, 66100 Chieti, Italy.

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