Radiologic Specific Growth Rate of Ameloblastomas: A Clinicopathological Correlation

The study aimed to assess the radiologic-specific growth rate of ameloblastomas, evaluating potential associations with demographics, radiologic features, histopathologic variants and proliferation indices. The results of this study will hopefully establish if any clinical or histopathologic features can elude fast-growing ameloblastomas.

Patients presenting with multiple radiographs before surgical intervention due to various healthcare constraints or patient factors were included in the study. The measurements from each radiograph included the lesion's length, height, width and amount of expansion in these dimensions. Furthermore, the circumference of the lesion was measured in sagittal, coronal and axial planes. The radiologic-specific growth rate was assessed by calculating the difference in measurements from the initial to follow-up radiographs divided by the duration between the visits to calculate the growth rate per year.

The specific growth rate was analysed between age groups, histopathologic variants and Ki-67 values, with no statistically significant correlations found in all dimensions measured. A statistically significant faster growth (p = 0.04) was seen in females when measuring the mesial-distal length. When comparing radiologic features, ameloblastomas with loss of border demarcation, severe cortical destruction and tooth displacement demonstrated statistically significant faster growth.

This study found significant correlations with the growth rate of ameloblastomas, specifically in coronal dimensions, supporting the notion of buccal-lingual growth/expansion for which ameloblastomas are known.