Cystic Mandibular Lesion in the Antiquity. A Rare Finding

Abstract

Ameloblastoma is a not uncommon tumour reported in the clinical literature and is characterised by a multilocular cavity with 'soap bubble' pattern usually in the posterior body of the mandible. A review of the palaeopathology literature did not reveal any examples of ameloblastoma. In this paper, a probable case of ameloblastoma in a male skeleton, 45 -55 years at age of death, from Casserres, Barcelona, Spain, (ca AD V-IX centuries) is presented. This case was identified during the anthropological study of the remains in the laboratory of biological anthropology in the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. The mandible of this individual (AEC'07-C2-139) exhibits unusual features, like cavitated lesions in the posterior side of the right gonion and the expansion of the right ramus of the mandible. All these features are consistent with ameloblastoma.

Maxillary abnormality in the medieval Blessed friar Egidio from Laurenzana (Basilicata, southern Italy)

“…Uncommon jaw lesions have been described in the palaeopathological literature, although these refer to benign mandibular tumors (i.e., possible osteomas or hamartomas and ossifying fibromas or osseous dysplasia) (Bartelink & Wright, 2011), to mandibular ameloblastomas (Carrascal et al, 2013; Cilli & D'Anastasio, 2017), and to possible benign fibro‐osseous lesions (Gresky et al, 2017). For odontogenic cysts, only six cases to date have been attributable to odontogenic radicular cysts: five from the late‐medieval graveyard of Stara Torina (Serbia) (Djurić & Rakočević, 2007) and one from the Roman Necropolis of Quinta da Torrinha/Quinta de Santo (Portugal) (Assis et al, 2018).…”