EXUBERANT OSTEOSARCOMA OF THE POSTERIOR MANDIBLE

Abstract

A 25-year-old male sought out dental services complaining of painful swelling in the posterior mandible and paresthesia of the lower lip for two months. The extraoral examination revealed an exuberant left-side facial asymmetry, with no palpable cervical lymph nodes. Intraorally, a swelling on the posterior buccal vestibule was observed. Imaging exams showed an extensive ill-defined osteolytic lesion in the posterior mandible. The patient was submitted to an incisional biopsy and microscopically, pleomorphic cells of osteoblastic appearance deposited in the hypercellularized connective tissue. The final diagnosis was primary osteosarcoma of the mandible. After four sessions of chemotherapy and five months of evolution, with aggressive progression, he underwent a left hemi-mandibulectomy surgery, performed by the Head and Neck team. The patient is still undergoing chemotherapy. It is important to note the dentist's role in the early diagnosis of osteosarcoma of the jaws, contributing to the improvement in the patient's quality of life. A 25-year-old male sought out dental services complaining of painful swelling in the posterior mandible and paresthesia of the lower lip for two months. The extraoral examination revealed an exuberant left-side facial asymmetry, with no palpable cervical lymph nodes. Intraorally, a swelling on the posterior buccal vestibule was observed. Imaging exams showed an extensive ill-defined osteolytic lesion in the posterior mandible. The patient was submitted to an incisional biopsy and microscopically, pleomorphic cells of osteoblastic appearance deposited in the hypercellularized connective tissue. The final diagnosis was primary osteosarcoma of the mandible. After four sessions of chemotherapy and five months of evolution, with aggressive progression, he underwent a left hemi-mandibulectomy surgery, performed by the Head and Neck team. The patient is still undergoing chemotherapy. It is important to note the dentist's role in the early diagnosis of osteosarcoma of the jaws, contributing to the improvement in the patient's quality of life.