Fibrous Dysplasia of the Maxillofacial Region, a Review of 134 cases at Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Lagos, Nigeria

Fibrous dysplasia (FD) belongs to a group of lesions known as fibro osseous lesions (FOL) whereby normal bone is replaced with fibrous tissue containing abnormal bone or cementum. FOL are the most frequent and the most difficult lesions to diagnose, as they share overlapping spectrum of clinicopathological, radiological, and immunological characteristics. In this retrospective study of 134 maxillofacial FD cases diagnosed histologically in the department of Oral Biology and Oral Pathology during the period of 1970 to 2009 at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-araba, Lagos, haematoxylin and eosin, as well as Masson’s trichrome, and AgNOR staining were used to confirm the diagnosis of FD. FD cases represented 44.4% of FOL seen during the study period. FD was most commonly found in the age group of 10-19 years, where 69 cases (51.5%) were observed with a mean age of 18.85± 7.22 years. FD was observed more frequently in females with a female to male ratio of 1.44: 1. A relatively high proportion of mixed bone trabeculae was present in FD. FD was more commonly observed in the maxilla. Mixed bone trabeculae pattern seems to be a better predictor of FD.