Abstract
Cherubism is an uncommon disease in Japan that was first described by Jones as a familialmultilocular cystic disease of the jaws. The disease is classified as a non-neoplastic bone lesion in the World Health Organization histological typing of odontogenic tumors, but diagnostic criteria have notbeen established.
We report a non-familial case of cherubism in a 10-year-old boy. The patient clinically showed fullness of the cheeks, slightly upturned eyes, and multiple swellings of the submandibular and cervical lymphnodes. Intraorally, there was bilateral bone expansion from the mandibular first molar region to the ascendingramus. The right first molar was dislocated laterally and the left first molar was unerupted.
Radiographically, multilocular radiolucent lesions were found bilaterally from the mandibular firstmolar region to the coronoid process. In addition, there were unilocular radiolucent lesions from the maxillary molar region to the tuberosity on both sides. Biopsy specimens obtained from the mandibular lesionswere diagnosed as giant cell granuloma. The patient is being examined periodically with no treatment. The lesions have shown no evidence of growth for 16 months.
