Soft Tissue Recurrence After Treatment of Ameloblastoma: Case Report With Clinicopathological Considerations

Ameloblastomas are locally aggressive jaw tumors with a high propensity for recurrence. They are believed to arise from remnants of dental lamina or odontogenic epithelium. Radical surgery remains the therapy of choice. Patient, 69, was seen exactly 9 years after hemimandibulectomy for the treatment of multicystic ameloblastoma. The patient underwent a maxillofacial surgery procedure at University Hospital Oswaldo Cruz in Pernambuco, Brazil. She reported having two well-demarcated areas of painful swelling that measured about 4 cm in the submucosa next to a titanium bone plate used for reconstruction. Computed tomography and an incisional biopsy were performed. The tumors were diagnosed as ameloblastoma. They were resected, and the anatomopathological analyses showed predominantly follicular and acanthomatous ameloblastoma within intense cicatricial fibrosis, constituting a soft tissue recurrence. This report shows the need to monitor ameloblastomas for a long-term period after radical treatment.