Unraveling the Mysteries of Ameloblastoma in African Population: A Comprehensive Analysis of 371 Cases from Clinical, Radiological, and Histopathological Perspectives.

OBJECTIVE

To analyze the frequency, clinical, histopathological, and radiological characteristics of ameloblastoma in Nigeria over the course of two decades.

STUDY DESIGN

A retrospective analysis was conducted on 371 cases at a Nigerian university hospital between 2000 and 2023. Age, gender, site, histological variants, tumor size and duration were analyzed. Statistical analyses included the Shapiro-Wilk test, Mann-Whitney U test, Chi-square test, and Spearman rank correlation analysis.

RESULTS

The median patient age was 30 years (mean age 32.2), with a male-to-female ratio of 1.12:1. 54.7% of cases occurred in young adults (age range 20-39 years). Among the lesions, 11.3% were in the maxilla and 88.7% in the mandible. Patients with mandibular lesions had a median age of 29 years, while those with maxillary lesions had a statistically significantly higher median age of 37.5 years p-value = 0.001. Median tumor size was 36 cm for the mandible and 24 cm for the maxilla (significant p-value of 0.002). There was no correlation between tumor size, age, or gender. However, there was a significant correlation between tumor size and the duration of the condition.

CONCLUSION

The study concludes that ameloblastoma is more frequent among younger individuals in Nigeria and often presents with larger tumor sizes, emphasizing the need for early detection and intervention.