Histopathological study of radicular cysts diagnosed in a Brazilian population

The aim of this study was to investigate the histopathological features of radicular cysts (RCs) diagnosed in a Brazilian population. Seventy-three cases of RCs, from a total of 1480 biopsies diagnosed between 2001 and 2008 at the Laboratory of Oral Surgical Pathology of the Dental School of the Federal University of Bahia were investigated regarding their histopathological features. Morphological results showed that exocytosis (n = 50), spongiosis (n = 40), acanthosis (n = 28), atrophic epithelium (n = 27) and apoptotic bodies (n = 21) were the most common findings. Other morphological findings included: foamy macrophages (n = 10), Russell's bodies (n = 7), cholesterol crystals (n = 7) and glandular-like odontogenic epithelial rests (n = 1). Evidence of exogenous material was seen in 16 samples. It was concluded that the clinical and histopathological findings observed in Brazilian patients were comparable with those described for other populations.