Malignant odontogenic myxoma of the maxilla: case with cytogenetic confirmation

An odontogenic myxoma of the maxilla with an aggressive clinical course is presented. The tumour arose in a 53-year-old patient, recurred two times af ter extended maxillectomy and ultimately caused the patient's death by unco ntrollable local disease with infiltration of the cranial cavity. Microscopically, the tumour showed histological features of a low grade mal ignant myxosarcoma with cellular areas, enhanced mitotic activity and nucle ar pleomorphism. Cytogenetic analysis revealed an unexpectedly aberrant hyp ertetraploid chromosome complement, that was considered as incompatible wit h the usual karyotypic patterns of benign tumours.