Abstract
We have studied a patient with osteolysis, considered to be the initial stage of massive osteolysis suggesting a mandibular cyst, is whom an iliac bone graft was performed.
The patient was a 33-year-old male referred to our hospital for spontaneous pain on the left side of the mandible. Radiographic examination revealed that the affected site of the mandible included a mandibular canal and exhibited an oval cyst-like radiolucent image with an unclear boundary. Surgery was performed under systemic anesthesia and included extirpation and curretting of the affected region as well as an iliac bone graft. Pathologically, cortical bone and bone marrow of the mandible were completely replaced by dense and irregular collagen fibers, and abundant iron pigment was deposited in fibrous tissues. The inferior alveolar nerve was normal, but the inferior alveolar artery was extremely narrow.
At present, 2 years and 4 months postoperatively the bone graft site shows almost complete osseous concrescence both clinically and radiologically.
