Ossifying fibroma of the jaws: Review of 57 cases in Enugu and of global literature

Background: There are very few reports of the clinicopathological features of ossifying fibroma (OF) of the jaws in Enugu, South-east Nigeria. Aims: To study the prevalence and clinicopathological features of OF in Enugu. Patients, Materials and Methods: An eight-year retrospective study of patients with OF of the jaws was carried out in a tertiary hospital in Enugu, Nigeria. The clinical records, radiographs, histopathology reports, and slides of 87 patients with fibrous lesions, archived in the department of oral pathology and oral medicine were identified and examined. The cases diagnosed with OF by histological examination were retrieved and studied. The data were analysed using the descriptive statistics and presented in the form of frequency tables. The test for a statistical association was carried out using the Chi-square statistics. Results: There were 644 orofacial lesions and 13.5% (87) of these were fibro-osseous tumours. OF constituted 8.9% (57) of the orofacial lesions and 65.5% (57) of fibro-osseous tumors. The male-to-female ratio was 1:1.7. The overall mean age at tumour-onset was 24.1 ± 13.1 years, (range: 5–60 years). The age group at which OF occurred most frequently (43.9%) was 11–20 years. The mandible was the most common site of occurrence, 64.9% (37), while the radiographic features were well-circumscribed opacity 24.6% (14), and mixed lucency–opacity, 22.8% (13). Conventional 54 (94.7%) and juvenile-psammamatoid 3 (5.3%) subtypes were identified. Conclusion: OF is the most prevalent fibro-osseous lesion, occurred mostly in the second decade and exhibits a lower mean age of onset in male patients.