Brown tumour of the mandible in primary hyperparathyroidism; a case report

We present an uncommon diagnosis in a 34-year-old female with a non-healing extraction socket. Incisional biopsy revealed multi-nucleated giant cells suggestive of central giant cell granuloma (CGCG). The computed tomography (CT) report made incidental note of a parathyroid mass. The parathyroid hormone (PTH) level was checked and found to be abnormally high. A diagnosis of brown tumour of the mandible was made. The patient was referred to a head and neck surgeon and the parathyroid mass was removed. The mandibular lesion was managed conservatively and continues to regress post-normalisation of PTH levels. The inclusion of the parathyroid region on the CT scan in this case was fortuitous. There are a range of pathologies containing multinucleated giant cells that can arise from the maxillofacial region; PTH level should, nevertheless, be checked in all such jaw lesions. This allows the clinician to exclude brown tumour from the diagnostic sieve.