Stafne's bone cavity: a review of the literature and report of two cases

Stafne's bone cyst revisited and renamed: the benign mandibular concavity

OBJECTIVE

Stafne's bone cyst (SBC) is an asymptomatic, round or oval-shaped, well-defined, uniform radiolucent lesion, usually incidentally observed in the posterior aspects of the mandible. Radiographical appearance may be confusing though. This study aimed to review the literature on SBCs and to map the SBC as shown in their respective papers.

METHODS

A Pubmed® search (1/9/2018 till 31/5/2019), mentioning SBC, was carried out. Included papers had to contain: patient's age, gender and radiographs.

RESULTS

In total, 114 papers were found, but only 64 papers were retained, which contained 109 cases (95 males, 14 females). The patients' ages ranged between 14 and 89 years old (mean age being 52 years). Male patients' ages (N = 95) ranged from 14 to 89 years (mean age 52.3 years), whereas the females (N = 14) ages ranged between 22 and 68 (mean age 50.2 years). 28 combinations of locations of SBC were recorded. Only three lesions were located at the symphysis, six were bilateral, 55 appeared on the left hand side and 45 on the right hand side of the mandible.The literature mentioned that these cavities could contain salivary gland tissue, muscular tissue, lymphoid tissue, blood vessels, fat tissue or connective tissue.

DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION

This study illustrates the wide variation of SBC locations across the mandible and leads us to conclude that the differential diagnosis of every asymptomatic, oval or round, well-defined, uniform radiolucent lesion on two-dimensional radiographs of the mandible should include "a benign mandibular concavity", formerly known as SBC.

Lingual and buccal mandibular bone depressions: a review based on 583 cases from a world-wide literature survey, including 69 new cases from Japan

OBJECTIVES

To review present knowledge of so-called lingual and buccal mandibular bone depressions (n = 583) based on studies of 247 contemporary and 267 archaeological cases from a world-wide literature survey in addition to 69 new cases from Japan.

METHODS

The 69 cases from Japan were retrieved through examination of 42,600 consecutive panoramic radiographs.

RESULTS

Bone depressions can be divided into four topographical variants: (1) lingual anterior mandibular body (incisor-canine- premolar area) above the mylohyoid muscle; (2) posterior to the mandibular angle-first permanent molar area, below the mandibular canal, and a third located to the ascending, lingual mandibular ramus, posterior to the lingual foramen, just below the neck of the condyle. An excessively rare fourth variant is located to the buccal aspects of the ascending mandibular ramus.

CONCLUSIONS

The present concept favours that all variants have a common origin: a hyperplastic/hypertrophic lobe (or aberrant lobe) of the sublingual, submandibular or parotid salivary gland, exerting pressure upon the cortex of the mandible by the respective gland, leading to focal atrophy or resorption of the bone. The bone depressions take years to develop, appearing radiographically not until the 5th to 6th decades.

Lingual mandibular bone defect. Case report and review of the literature

An unusual case of lingual mandibular bone defect (Stafne's bone cavity) is presented in which the lesion extended to above the inferior dental canal and caused expansion of the buccal cortical plate. The literature is reviewed with regard to the incidence, plausible aetiologic factors and methods of investigation of such lesions.