Hybrid Ameloblastoma of the Maxilla: A Puzzling Pathology

• Main Authors: Chintamaneni Raja Lakshmi, Sujana Mulk Bhavana, Sai Madhavi Nallamilli, Meka Poorna Venkata Prabhat, Gummadapu Sarat, Chennupati Anuradha
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Shiraz University of Medical Sciences 2016-07-01
• Series: Iranian Journal of Medical Sciences
• Subjects: Ameloblastoma; Maxillary sinus; Maxillary neoplasms; Odontogenic tumors
• Online Access: http://ijms.sums.ac.ir/index.php/IJMS/article/view/1216

Ameloblastomas are slow growing, locally invasive, benign odontogenic tumors of an epithelial origin, accounting for approximately 1% of all oral tumors. A 40-year-old man presented with a chief complaint of a swelling over the left side of his face of 4 years’ duration. On examination, gross facial asymmetry was detected, and a well-defined swelling was noted intraorally involving the left maxilla medially from the mid palatal raphe and obliterating the buccal vestibule laterally. The swelling was non-tender and exhibited dual consistencies: firm in the palate and cystic in the vestibular region. Computed tomography revealed a multilocular radiolucency, which involved the left maxilla, encroached into the left maxillary sinus and the nasal complex, and caused bony erosion. Early diagnosis and treatment are the key tools in managing ameloblastomas, failure of which may lead to a significant deterioration of the prognosis and an increased recurrence rate. Uncommon variants of ameloblastomas have been gaining interest recently. To date, 25 cases of hybrid ameloblastomas have been documented in the scientific literature. We present an extremely rare hybrid type of the ameloblastoma with combined follicular, cystic, acanthomatous, and desmoplastic variants, which render it the first of its kind to have ever been reported.