Clinic-pathological study and comparative analysis of orofacial lesions in a Brazilian population of children and adolescents

Abstract

Objective: To describe the sample of Maxillofacial Complex (MFC) Lesions observed in a Brazilian service diagnostic reference for such lesions, and comparatively analyse observed data across the national and international literature. Material and Methods: A literature review of survey of MFC Lesions in Children and Adolescentes was performed. The keywords used were “Oral, Pathology” and “Child”, and 18 articles were selected. Then, we surveyed the biopsy archives of the Department of Pathology and Legal Medicine and the Oral Pathology Laboratory of the Federal University of Ceará recorded from 1994 to 2010. The inclusion criterion was patients whose age fell within the range of 0-16 years old. Results: From a total of 4,775 histological results, 499 (10.4%) were selected. Most lesions were diagnosed in female patients, and the prevalence increased with age. Benign lesions represented 90.4% of those reported; some patients had mucocele and inflammatory lesions, and malignant lesions accounted for 1.8% of all lesions reported. These data, compared to the selected articles, showed little similarity between populations at the international level. Conclusion: the evaluated population had significant differences compared to the articles reviewed. The international level of distribution has little influence on this prevalence, which indicates the necessity for performing more local surveys to establish reliable epidemiological profiles.