The occurrence and pattern of ameloblastoma in children and adolescents: an Indian institutional study of 41 years and review of the literature.

Ameloblastoma in the paediatric age group is considered a rarity and it accounts for approximately 10-15% of all reported cases. This study assessed the clinical, radiological, and histopathological features of 39 cases of ameloblastoma in Indian children aged less than 18 years, seen over a 41-year period (1971-2011) in the Department of Oral Pathology, Nair Hospital Dental College, India. Out of 256 diagnosed cases of ameloblastoma, 39 (15.2%) occurred in patients ranging in age from 4.5 to 18 years (mean age 13.6 years; male-to-female ratio 2:1). All of the tumours were intraosseous, with a marked predilection for the mandible (97.4%), the body-angle-ramus being the most commonly involved site. Radiographically, 23 cases presented as unilocular radiolucency. Histologically, 20 cases presented as solid and 19 as unicystic ameloblastoma. The interesting finding of 10 solid ameloblastoma presenting as unilocular radiolucency and five cases of unicystic ameloblastoma manifesting as multilocular radiolucency suggests that solid ameloblastomas should be included in the differential diagnosis of unilocular radiolucency of the jaw in the paediatric age group.