Juvenile ossifying fibroma. An analysis of 33 cases with emphasis on histopathological aspects.

Juvenile ossifying fibroma (JOF) is a maxillofacial fibro-osseous lesion that may show cell-rich osteoid strands or psammoma-like ossicles. Whether both types are variants of a single entity or different lesions under the same diagnostic label is a subject of debate. This problem was investigated by analyzing a series of 33 patients with lesions having one or both of the above histological appearances. It was concluded that osteoid strands define a unique fibro-osseous lesion but that lesions with psammoma-like ossicles fall within the morphological spectrum of cemento-ossifying fibroma. Therefore the term juvenile ossifying fibroma should be reserved for the lesion with the osteoid strands.