Conservative surgical treatment of mandibular ameloblastomas.

The results of a follow-up investigation of 12 patients with ameloblastomas of the mandible, treated by conservative surgical means, are presented. The age of the patients at the time of operation ranged from 8 to 77 years, the average age being 41 years. Seven of the tumors had a unilocular and five a multilocular appearance. The operation technique varied somewhat with the individual case. An attempt was made in all cases to remove the tumor in toto. In cases with multilocular appearance or where the tumor was in connection with the surface epithelium, a resection of the roof of the lesion was made. Microscopic examination of the tumors revealed that they all could be classified as plexiform or folicular but with various degrees of differentiation. Seven of the patients were observed for more than 5 years, the others for less. Three instances of recurrence were diagnosed and were in all cases less than 1 cm in diameter. The recurrences were found 1, 3, and 20 years after the primary treatment. Although the number of patients and the observation period are limited, the preliminary results seem encouraging.