Bl. Schmidt et Ma. Pogrel, The use of enucleation and liquid nitrogen cryotherapy in the management of odontogenic keratocysts, J ORAL MAX, 59(7), 2001, pp. 720-725
Purpose: This study evaluated the use of enucleation and cryosurgery in the
management of odontogenic keratocysts.
Patients and Methods: This study involved a retrospective review of 26 pati
ents. All of the patients received a combination of enucleation and cryosur
gery. Postoperative follow-up consisted of clinical and radiographic examin
ations.
Results: Before enucleation and cryotherapy, 22 of the 26 patients had rece
ived previous treatment consisting of enucleation alone. The average time f
rom initial treatment to recurrence was 6.2 years. Twenty-three cases occur
red in the mandible, 22 in the posterior (proximal to the canine), and 1 in
the anterior mandible. Three cases involved the maxilla, Three of the 26 p
atients (11.5%) developed a recurrence after treatment. The average time fr
om treatment to recurrence in these 3 patients was 1.6 years (range, 1.2 to
1.9 years). The remaining 23 patients (88.5%) had no evidence of clinical
or radiographic recurrence. The average time of follow-up was 3.5 years (ra
nge, 2.0 to 10.0 years),
Conclusions: Based on these results, the combination of enucleation and liq
uid nitrogen cryotherapy may offer patients improved therapy in the managem
ent of odontogenic keratocysts. (C) 2001 American Association of Oral and M
axillofacial Surgeons.