Is the prevalence of the medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaws underestimated, evaluation in oncological and non-oncological disease.

OBJECTIVES

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw in Slovak population and compare the literature findings, whether the prevalence of MRONJ is underestimated.

BACKGROUND

Antiresorptive drugs significantly increase quality of life, although during therapy, or in post-treatment period, osteonecrosis of the jaws might occur as a severe adverse effect. Medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaws (MRONJ) is a severe problem that has been observed in the past few years.

METHODS

This multi-centric study evaluates the prevalence in Slovak population, assesses the values from 4 largest centres of maxillofacial surgery in Slovakia (1166 patients with MRONJ) and provides the comparison of literature review.

RESULTS

Between 2010-2015, there was increasing number of newly diagnosed patients with MRONJ (1166 overall MRONJ patients) annually, except 2012 (mean growth of 123.88 %). This finding was supported by a statistical analysis of the rising tendency of prevalence in literature, where there was a significant difference in prevalence of non-oncologic patients before and after 2010 t(15) = 2.725, p = 0.016. The 6-year prevalence was 1.34 % in population with antiresorptive drugs intake, for osteoporosis 0.47 %, for breast cancer 4.10 %, prostate cancer 3.99 % and multiple myeloma 21.26 %.

CONCLUSION

This study considers that there is a significant rising tendency of MRONJ in non-oncological patients, what could be caused by underestimation of the risk for development MRONJ in these patients. There should be a better cooperation and information among dentists and doctors indicating the antiresorptive treatment and strong emphasis on primary prevention before the initial treatment even in non-oncological patients (Tab. 5, Fig. 7, Ref. 69).