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Purpose: Detection of a precancerous or cancerous lesion when small is one of the most important factors to improve 5-year survival rates of oral cancer. Although surgical biopsy is the most definitive method for diagnosing oral lesions, it is impractical to routinely subject large numbers of patients to biopsy. Recently, cytomorphometric assessments improved by advanced computer-assisted image analysis systems have gained importance. This study was established to evaluate the efficacy of nuclear cytomorphometric analysis and DNA ploidy status for the detection of oral malignancies. Methods used for cytomorphometric analysis were also reviewed., Patients and Methods: Oral mucosal smears (n = 44) were obtained from patients (n = 22) presenting with various oral lesions using a cytobrush immediately before biopsy. Cytomorphometric measurements and nuclear Feulgen DNA content analysis were carried out after the Feulgen staining procedure. Smears from the lesion site constituted the study group whereas contralateral healthy mucosal sites served as control., Results: DNA ploidy analysis revealed 20 diploid (90.9%) and 2 aneuploid DNA patterns (9.1%) sampled from the lateral margin of the tongue and floor of the mouth. When only malignant lesions were considered, aneuploidy rate was 16.7% whereas a diploid pattern was indicated for 83.3% of the sample. With cytomorphometric measurements, a statistically significant difference was shown for nuclear perimeter, area, diameter equivalent to circle, minimum and maximum Feret, intensity, DNA content (c) and DNA index values., Conclusions: Cytomorphometric analysis via oral brush biopsy is a valuable adjunct to biopsy for identification of premalignant and early stage cancerous oral lesions as a rapid and minimally invasive procedure with high specificity and sensitivity rates, requiring no topical or local anesthetic.

Purpose: Structural changes in muscles may affect the process during and after distraction osteogenesis (DO) of the mandible. However, the response of the masticatory muscles is still not well defined after gradual lengthening of the mandible. In this experimental study, short-term structural changes in masseter muscles of the rabbits are evaluated after mandibular DO., Materials and Methods: Left mandibles of 10 New Zealand rabbits were lengthened by DO for 7 days in the rate of 1 mm/day. Mandibles of all animals were removed at the end of the consolidation period. Muscle biopsy samples of distracted and contralateral sides were histopathologically investigated, and histomorphometric results were statistically analyzed., Results: Atrophy, hypertrophy, regeneration, and concomitant mild interstitial edema and fibrosis were found more evident in experimental side biopsy samples 30 days after distraction. Histomorphometric analysis revealed a statistically significant decrease in the mean regions of masseter muscle fibers of the distracted sides compared with the control sides (P <.05)., Conclusion: This experimental study showed that the structure of masseter muscle is influenced during and shortly after mandibular distraction osteogenesis. Atrophic changes of the ipsilateral masseter muscles may be regarded as regenerative response that occurs during and shortly after distraction period., (Copyright 2003 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons)

Purpose: The purpose of this article was to present 35 new cases of peripheral osteoma of the oral and maxillofacial region with an analysis of the literature., Patients and Methods: We performed a search of our files for the past 5 years for peripheral osteoma of the oral and maxillofacial region. The criteria used to diagnose osteoma included the radiographic and histologic features., Results: The 35 patients, which included 23 males (65%) and 12 females (35%), ranged in age from 14 to 58 years, with a mean age of 29.4 years. Most of the osteomas were located in frontal bone (28.57%), mandible (22.85%), and maxilla (14.28%)., Conclusion: Peripheral osteomas of the jaw bones are uncommon, and accordingly, patients with osteoma should be evaluated for Gardner's syndrome. In addition, it is appropriate to provide both clinical and radiographic follow-up after surgical excision of a peripheral osteoma., (Copyright 2002 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons J Oral Maxillofac Surg 60:1299-1301, 2002)

Purpose: Bone healing is impaired in diabetes mellitus, particularly due to increased collagen breakdown. Recently, tetracyclines have been used to treat experimental bone defects because they have anticollagenolytic properties, and positive effects on the healing process have been obtained. The objective of this study was to develop a computer-assisted histomorphometric technique to quantitatively determine the amount of regenerating bone within experimental bone defects in a diabetic rodent model., Materials and Methods: This study examined the effects of systemic doxycycline administration on the healing of tibial bone defects in healthy albino rats and in experimentally induced diabetic rats. Twenty-four female albino rats were assigned to 4 groups: diabetic, diabetic plus doxycycline, control, or control plus doxycycline. The standardized bone defects were histomorphometrically examined 10 and 30 days postoperatively. Histomorphometric analysis of the amount of new bone formation was performed using the Zeiss Vision image analysis program KS 400 (Kontron Elektron GmbH, Eching, Germany)., Results: At 10 days of healing, the diabetic groups exhibited inferior healing compared with the control groups in terms of the amount of new bone formation within the defects. However, the effect of doxycycline administration to the diabetic and control groups was not statistically different. At 30 days of healing, there were no statistically significant differences between the amount of newly formed bone in any of the groups., Conclusions: This study found that doxycycline administration did not significantly alter the amount of new bone formation during the healing of bone defects in control and diabetic rats., (Copyright 2002 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons.)