A Case of Unicystic Ameloblastoma Showing Multilocular Presentation

Abstract

Unicystic ameloblastoma (UA) is a variant of ameloblastoma and was first described by Robinson and Martinez in 1977. It occurs usually in younger age group and has good prognosis. It is characterized by slow growth, local aggressiveness, and is commonly found at the posterior  portion of the mandible. As the name indicates, the most common radiographic presentation of unicystic              ameloblastoma is a unilocular well-demarcated radiolucency. Here, we report a unique case of UA in a 40-year-old female patient involving the whole length of the mandibular ramus crossing the midline. Radiographic findings in our case showed multilocular presentation resembling solid multicystic ameloblastoma but histopathologically after subtotal           mandibulectomy it turned out to be a case of unicystic ameloblastoma. In general, unicystic ameloblastomas are unilocular in radiographs, although they may rarely present as multilocular lesions, as it was evident from our case. The locularity of the lesion appears to be correlated to the clinical behaviour of the lesion. Most of the cases that appear as multilocular unicystic ameloblastomas tend to show an    aggressive behaviour. Therefore, a careful follow up is    required even in unicystic ameloblastomas that show a    multilocular radiographic presentation.

 Keywords: Unicystic Ameloblastoma, Solid multicystic Ameloblastoma, Multilocular radiolucency.