Diagnosis of multiple synchronously occurring cystic jaw lesions in 23 patients: Prognostic implications related to basal cell nevus syndrome

Objectives. We rarely find multiple cystic lesions in the jaw in panoramic radiographs. Most reports of multiple cystic lesions have described keratocystic odontogenic tumors (KOTs) in patients with basal cell nevus syndrome. In this study, we performed radiographic and clinical examinations of patients with multiple cystic jaw lesions found during their first visit to our department to determine the proportion of basal cell nevus syndrome among multiple cystic lesions. Methods. Patients who had a panoramic radiograph taken at Okayama University Hospital between 1993 and 2000 were examined. Twenty-three patients with multiple cystic jaw lesions on a first panoramic radiography examination were entered into this study. Results. Of the 23 patients, 12 (52.2%) were diagnosed with basal cell nevus syndrome and 11 (47.8%) were not. Of the 14 patients with multiple KOTs, 12 (85.7%) were diagnosed as having basal cell nevus syndrome. Of the nine remaining patients with multiple cystic jaw lesions, only seven had multiple dentigerous cysts and two had multiple simple bone cysts. Cleft palate was observed in four of the 12 patients (33.3%) with basal cell nevus syndrome. Conclusion. Diagnosing basal cell nevus syndrome based on multiple cystic jaw lesions carries a high risk of misdiagnosis. A strong possibility exists that patients with multiple jaw KOTs have basal cell nevus syndrome. Furthermore, cleft palate should be considered an important oral finding in basal cell nevus syndrome because its occurrence was relatively frequent in our study.