Tale of Ameloblastoma - An Experience Spanning Two Decades.

INTRODUCTION

Despite being a benign pathology, ameloblastoma is considered to be locally-aggressive and has a high recurrence-rate. The following study describes the experience in a tertiary care hospital to manage ameloblastoma using treatment modalities based on the site of occurrence and histologic-type and to evaluate recurrence in long term.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

In this 21-year-long retrospective study, 92 patients were followed-up for a minimum period of 5-years (range 5-21 years) to assess the clinical and demographic characteristics, treatment-procedure performed, and outcomes including the recurrence-rate associated with different treatment-strategies for treating ameloblastoma.

RESULTS

Out of 92 cases, 90 had mandibular involvement, with the most frequent site being Body (B), and Angle and Ramus (AR) region. The most prevalent histological-subtype was plexiform ameloblastoma. Five cases had mixed histopathologic-presentations in which more than one histological variant was found simultaneously. Segmental resection with reconstruction using a reconstruction plate was the most commonly employed surgical procedure for all histologic types. One case of plexiform ameloblastoma that underwent marginal resection presented with a recurrence at 189 months.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on the observed results, it is concluded that adequate surgical planning along with long-term follow-up may provide the desired results and reduce the rate of recurrence.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12663-024-02197-2.