Byline: Chukwubuzor. Okwuosa, Mark. Nwoga, Akinyele. Adisa
Background: There are very few reports of the clinicopathological features of ossifying fibroma (OF) of the jaws in Enugu, South-east Nigeria. Aims: To study the prevalence and clinicopathological features of OF in Enugu. Patients, Materials and Methods: An eight-year retrospective study of patients with OF of the jaws was carried out in a tertiary hospital in Enugu, Nigeria. The clinical records, radiographs, histopathology reports, and slides of 87 patients with fibrous lesions, archived in the department of oral pathology and oral medicine were identified and examined. The cases diagnosed with OF by histological examination were retrieved and studied. The data were analysed using the descriptive statistics and presented in the form of frequency tables. The test for a statistical association was carried out using the Chi-square statistics. Results: There were 644 orofacial lesions and 13.5% (87) of these were fibro-osseous tumours. OF constituted 8.9% (57) of the orofacial lesions and 65.5% (57) of fibro-osseous tumors. The male-to-female ratio was 1:1.7. The overall mean age at tumour-onset was 24.1 [+ or -] 13.1 years, (range: 5-60 years). The age group at which OF occurred most frequently (43.9%) was 11-20 years. The mandible was the most common site of occurrence, 64.9% (37), while the radiographic features were well-circumscribed opacity 24.6% (14), and mixed lucency-opacity, 22.8% (13). Conventional 54 (94.7%) and juvenile-psammamatoid 3 (5.3%) subtypes were identified. Conclusion: OF is the most prevalent fibro-osseous lesion, occurred mostly in the second decade and exhibits a lower mean age of onset in male patients.
Introduction
Fibro-osseous lesions are a group of poorly defined lesions that include fibrous dysplasia, ossifying fibroma (OF),[1] and osseous dysplasia.[2] OF (70%) is the most common benign fibro-osseous neoplasm of the craniofacial region.[3] It is characterised by the replacement of the normal bone and marrow with a connective tissue matrix, and mineralisation with woven bone or acellular structures.[4],[5]
OF was first described by Menzel in 1872 but was reported by Montgomery in 1927.[6] Various classifications have applied the term 'OF,'[7] while in the 3rd edition of WHO classification 2005, the term 'cementifying OF' was reduced to OF.[8] However, the 4th edition of the WHO classification 2017 and the most current, reclassified cement-OF as benign messenchymal odontogenic tumour, clearly distinguishing it from OFs that are classified under benign fibro- and chondro-osseous lesions.[9]
Peripheral OF is the extraosseous variant while the intraosseous OF is subdivided into conventional and juvenile clinicopathological subtypes.[10] The term juvenile OF (JOF) is used to describe two distinct clinicopathological entities: Juvenile trabecular OF (JTOF) and juvenile psammamatoid OF (JPOF). Conventional OFs are usually slow-growing and generally seen in the third and fourth decades of life.[3],[11],[12] They predominantly affect females,[3],[13],[14] with a female:male ratio of 5:1.[15] OF presents with the expansion of the buccal and lingual cortices and may involve the inferior border of the mandible.[1] It is locally aggressive, with mandibular predilection, and often associated with significant esthetic and functional disturbances.[7],[14]
Radiologically, OF appears as a well-circumscribed unilocular or multilocular radiolucencies or...