Fibrous histiocytomas of the oral mucosa.

The oral lesions reported in this article fall into the first category of benign fibrous histiocytomas analogous to those which occur on sun-exposed skin surfaces of young objects. The ages of the patients, the histologic features and the history of traumatic episodes, as well as their biologic behaviors on follow-up, are all features compatible with those benign lesions which occur in the skin. According to the information presented in these cases, there is stronger evidence that the lesions of the oral mucosa, like their dermatologic counterparts, are representative of reactive inflammatory processes rather than neoplastic processes. It is of considerable interest that in both cases reported here the patients were children whose lesions developed following significantly severe traumatic episodes. Also of interest is the finding that the lesions healed with no recurrences or complications, even though in one of the cases it was not completely removed. These findings are in agreement with other reports of such lesions which have occurred in the head and neck regions of children and young adults. From the over-all information obtained in the literature review regarding the biologic behavior of benign fibro-histiocytic lesions, the collected data seem to indicate that lesions of the skin and superfacial mucosal surfaces which occur in children and young adults are proliferative, reactive lesions and infection, or irradiation. Systemic, visceral, or deep-seated lesions in the lower extremities appear to be true neoplasms and their prognoses must be considered as guarded.