”Myxoma of the Jaws”: Report of an atypical presentation and review of literature

Abstract

Oral lesions of myxomatous origin are relatively rare and include nerve sheath myxomas, soft tissue myxomas, oral focal mucinosis, and odontogenic myxomas. These lesions have a common histologic appearance of abundant myxoid ground substance. A 61-year-old edentulous female presented with nasal stuffiness since the past 4 months. Clinical examination revealed an asymptomatic intraoral swelling in the edentulous maxillary ridge which had ulcerated. Plain film radiography and CT showed an expansile osteolytic lesion involving the right maxillary sinus. A partial maxillectomy was performed and direct microscopy showed a predominant embryonic mesenchymal stroma with fibroblasts and calcifications suggestive of a myxoma. The central myxoma is hypothesized to originate from the odontogenic apparatus due to its almost exclusivity to the jaw bones. However, when a central myxoma occurs in an edentulous jaw at an age when the odontogenic apparatus is apparently nonfunctional, explaining the genesis of this unique tumor based on present understanding becomes difficult. We present one such case while reviewing the existing literature on the present concepts of pathogenesis.