The Clinical Presentation of Odontogenic Myxoma of the Jaws: A 22-Year Retrospective Analysis

Background: Odontogenic Myxoma (OM) affects the jaws, and is characterized by high recurrence rate after treatment. Objective: To evaluate the clinical characteristics and treatment outcome of OM that presented in our center. Materials and Methods: A 22-year retrospective study was performed at the Dental and Maxillofacial Surgery Clinic of the study institution; patients’ data were collected from the hospital records and entered into a pro-forma questionnaire. Results: Overall, 643 patients with oro-facial lesions were evaluated and 38/643 (5.9%) were diagnosed with OM. There were 22 (57.8%) males and 16 (42.2%) females with male to female ratio of 1.4:1. Majority (n=30, 78.9%) of the patients were between 21-40 years (p=0.001). Patients presented late and this increased with decreased socio-economic status (p=0.001), whereas the higher the socio-economic status, the smaller were the sizes of the tumor (p=0.001). Majority 33 (86.8%) occurred in the mandible and the tumors were centrally located in the jaws. The longer the duration of tumor, the more the presenting clinical symptoms (p=0.001). Radiologically, 32 (84.2%) cases showed multi-locular radiolucency. The tumors were treated by wide excision, and the greater the sizes of the surgical defects, the more the co-morbidities (p= 0.001). Post-operatively, 10.5% patients had recurrence of the tumor whereas 5.3% spontaneous bone regeneration (SBR). Conclusion: The clinical characteristics and treatment outcome of OM observed is similar to previous reports except that males were affected more than females. Late presentation is the main challenging factor in the early diagnosis and management of this tumor in our environment.