Latent bone cyst as healing artifact. A case report.

The hemorrhagic bone cyst and the latent bone cyst are pathological conditions of unknown etiology occurring in the jaws. Hemorrhagic cysts are diagnosed radiographically and clinically, while latent bone cysts are often diagnosed on radiographical findings alone. In this paper, a case is described where a hemorrhagic bone cyst failed to heal completely after surgery and left a lesion resembling a latent bone cyst. This was probably caused by a defect of the lingual cortical plate first observed during surgical treatment. A tomogram subsequently revealed persistence of this lingual cortical defect. The case suggests that some lesions diagnosed as mandibular latent bone cysts may, in fact, be healing defects associated with pathological lesions having a defective lingual cortical plate.