High-grade osteosarcoma arising in DCIA flap reconstruction after a prior resection of maxillar cemento-ossifying fibroma: A case report

Cemento-ossifying fibroma is a rare benign odontogenic tumour of the tooth-bearing jaws. Its concomitant occurrence with osteosarcoma, a malignant maxillofacial bone tumour, has never been described before. We present an uncommon case of a 43-year-old woman in whom a cemento-ossifying fibroma in the right maxilla was treated by resection and reconstruction using a deep circumflex iliac artery flap. During surgical prosthetic rehabilitation one-year post-operative, an osteosarcoma extending from the contralateral maxilla was coincidentally discovered in the deep circumflex iliac artery flap. The aim of this case report is to raise awareness on the extremely rare but possible simultaneous and independent occurrence of a cemento-ossifying fibroma and an osteosarcoma.

Facial Paresthesia, a Rare Manifestation of Hereditary Neuropathy With Liability to Pressure Palsies: A Case Report

Trigeminal sensory neuropathy can be caused by a variety of conditions, including local, traumatic, iatrogenic, or systemic causes. Diagnosis and management remain a challenge for maxillofacial surgeons and neurologists. Therefore, a good clinical examination and objective tests and imaging are needed when diagnosing patients who present with facial numbness. We present a case with spontaneous episodes of facial paresthesia. He was diagnosed with hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies (HNPP), a rare condition that affects the peripheral nerves. Only a few case reports that describe involvement of the cranial nerves in patients with HNPP were found in the literature, and facial paresthesia has not been previously reported.

Maxillofacial and oral surgery in patients with thrombophilia: safe territory for the oral surgeon? A single-center retrospective study

OBJECTIVE

The aim of this study was to analyze patients with thrombophilia who underwent oral and/or maxillofacial surgery at our center.

STUDY DESIGN

We performed a retrospective analysis of patients with hereditary or acquired thrombophilia who had undergone oral/maxillofacial surgery between January 1, 2000 and December 31, 2019. Data regarding demographic and patient characteristics, surgical treatment modalities, antithrombotic therapies, and complications were analyzed.

RESULTS

A total of 76 eligible patients (26 male, 50 female) were included in this study, with a mean follow-up period of 3.8 months (range, 0-51 months). The mean age at time of surgery was 44.7 ± 19.4 years. Seven different hereditary and acquired thrombophilia were identified: factor V Leiden (n = 31; 40.8%), prothrombin G20210A mutation (n = 5; 6.6%), protein C deficiency (n = 4; 5.3%), protein S deficiency (n = 11; 14.5%), antiphospholipid syndrome (n = 10; 13.2%), hyperhomocysteinemia (n = 8; 10.5%), and elevated factor VIII (n = 2; 2.6%). Complications occurred in 9 patients (11.8%) and included postoperative infections (n = 6; 7.9%) and postoperative bleeding (n = 3; 3.9%).

CONCLUSION

Our data suggest that oral and/or maxillofacial surgery in patients with a confirmed diagnosis of thrombophilia is not associated with a burden of thrombosis or high complication rates. Furthermore, we formulated a guideline for preoperative antithrombotic therapy for patients with thrombophilia undergoing oral and/or maxillofacial surgery.

Survival and success of autotransplanted impacted maxillary canines during short-term follow-up: A prospective case-control study

OBJECTIVES

This prospective clinical trial aimed to examine the predictability of maxillary canine transplantation as compared to biological canine eruption. Additional objectives were to examine hard and soft tissue outcomes, including aesthetic outcome compared to outcomes with the contralateral canines.

SETTINGS AND SAMPLE POPULATION

The sample comprised 17 consecutively transplanted maxillary canines in 17 patients (mean age at surgery, 18 years; range, 11-29 years). Minimal follow-up time was 12 months post-transplantation. Clinical and radiographic parameters were recorded for the transplanted and contralateral canines, showing a natural eruption pattern.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The Maxillary Canine Aesthetic Index (MCAI) and the Autotransplanted Maxillary Canine Radiological Index (AMCRI) were scored for all upper canines. Successful transplantation was considered as the absence of pathology during intermittent clinical and radiographic controls and a good-to-excellent outcome compared to the contralateral biological erupted canine, as defined by the MCAI and AMCRI.

RESULTS

The mean follow-up period was 28 months (±9; range, 12-40 months). The overall survival rate was 100%, and the success rate reached 68% at 1 year post-operatively. Significant predictors of success were the extra-oral time during transplantation, amount of damage to the root surface, quality of surrounding tissues and immediate post-operative oral hygiene.

CONCLUSION

Standardized measurements demonstrated clinically satisfactory outcomes with maxillary canine autotransplantation compared to outcomes with the contralateral canine during 1-3 years of follow-up. The potential predictors of success identified here should be confirmed with long-term follow-up studies.

Effect of short and long range order on crystal structure interpretation: Raman and powder X-ray diffraction of LiPF₆

The structure of LiPF6 has been probed using Raman scattering as well as pXRD and the results are compared and contrasted. The conventional Bragg angle scattering pXRD determines that dry LiPF6 crystallizes in a trigonal structure (Space Group R-3 (148)), while Raman data suggests that the observed structure is close to cubic (Space Group Fm-3m (225)), similar to NaPF6 and KPF6. DFT heat capacity calculations using ab-initio methods for both R-3 and Fm-3m structures show better correlation with the Raman observations. The differences between Raman and pXRD data in LiPF6 appear to be in common with that observed in other materials that are close to phase transitions at the temperature where order/disorder and phase transition processes are known to occur. In these circumstances, Raman spectroscopy emerges as a more sensitive probe of local structural changes than pXRD, which is known to probe the overall average long range order of crystalline materials. The results are interpreted through the relationship between the local symmetry, internal energy and the heat capacity.

Raman analysis of ancient pigments on a tile from the Citadel of Algiers

A micro-Raman spectroscopy study of a multi-coloured (yellow, blue, white, redish-brown and brown-black) tile shard from the Citadel of Algiers was undertaken. XRD and EDX were used as complementary techniques. The study shows that the heterogeneous three-shade yellow pigment on the tile is composed largely of the ancient ternary (Pb-Sn-Sb) pyrochlore oxide with a dominant Pb-O vibration at 127 cm(-1) consistent with the Pb2SnSbO6.5 structure as verified by XRD. The literature assignment of this band at 132 cm(-1) probably comes from a mixture of pigments. The redish-brown and the brown-black pigments are found to be Naples yellow (Pb2Sb2O7) and lead(II) stannate (Pb2SnO4), respectively, while cobalt blue (CoAl2O4) gives the blue colour and cassiterite (SnO2) is the origin of the white colour. The bulk of the tile body is composed mainly of hematite (alpha-Fe2O3), maghemite (gamma-Fe2O3), magnetite (Fe3O4) and Quartz (alpha-SiO2) with traces of calcite (CaCO3) and amorphous carbon. Micro-Raman spectroscopy proved to be very useful in the characterization of pigments as well as the tile body. These results further establish Raman spectroscopy as a technique of choice for the analysis of pigments on archaeological artifacts. The results obtained here could be used in the restoration and preservation programme of the Citadel itself which stands today as a symbol of pre-colonial Algerian heritage.