Garré's osteomyelitis of the mandible. Report of a case.

A case of Garré's disease has been reported. This case is atypical in that the patient presented with only a periosteal bone mass and a negative history of toothache, abscess, or trauma to the area. Because of this, diagnosis was not possible without microscopic examination. Atypical cases of this nature cause diagnostic problems, and several disease states must be considered in a differential diagnosis. These include the following: 1. Ewing's sarcoma, which also occurs in this age group and may show cortical reduplication on radiographic examination. The prognosis in cases of Ewing's sarcoma is poor, and death may occur in a matter of weeks. 2. Infantile cortical hyperostosis (Caffey's disease), which is characterized by development of soft-tissue swelling and cortical thickening of the mandible. The disease runs a benign course and regresses without treatment. 3. Osteogenic sarcoma, which occurs in slightly older age groups but presents as a cortical expansion with facial deformity. The disease is highly malignant and carries a poor prognosis.