aneurysmal bone cyst associated with a pathologic fracture of the mandible: a case report and literature review

pathologic fractures of the jaw are usually associated with aggressive, destructive lesions or malignant lesions of the jaws. aneurysmal bone cysts (abc) of the jaws are benign lesions which normally do not cause destruction to such an extent. this article reports a relatively aggressive abc of the mandible in a 19 year-old male which destroyed the buccal and lingual cortices as well as the inferior border of the mandible resulting in a pathologic fracture. although pathologic fractures associated with abc's of the skeleton are common, however, to our knowledge this is the first report of an ab c associated with a pathologic fracture of the jaw.