Clinical, imagistic and histopathological study of chronic apical periodontitis.

Periapical lesions are among the most frequent periodontal pathologies in human teeth, generally called apical periodontitis. Apical periodontitis is a continuation of the endodontic space infection and it is manifested as a response of the host defense against the microbial action. It may determine local inflammation, hard tissue resorption, destruction of other periapical tissues. The preliminary diagnosis of chronic periapical lesions is based on the clinical symptoms and imagistic investigation, which represent a reliable diagnosis instrument, but the histological investigation remains essential for a certain diagnosis. We performed a clinical and histological study of the periapical lesions, evaluating the various clinical and imagistic aspects and we compared them with the results of the histological examination, in order to establish the correspondence between the clinical-imagistic aspects and the morphological ones. The relation between the histological aspects, the clinical signs and imagistic aspects may provide valuable data both for establishing an accurate diagnosis and for adopting the most efficient treatment.