Cherubism: panoramic and CT features in adults

Abstract

Objectives: To describe the panoramic radiographic and CT features of cherubism in an unselected series of 15 adults. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, 15 individuals aged 29–84 years with familial non-syndromal molecularly confirmed cherubism were examined with panoramic radiography and CT. Bone abnormalities were analysed and described. Results: 11 (73%) of the 15 adults had mandibular abnormalities. These abnormalities ranged from subtly detectable to severe, and were less prevalent and expansive but could be rather similar to the characteristic image features in children. Unilocular radiolucencies were more common than multilocular radiolucencies, and a specific feature of these abnormalities was that they were exclusively found in the anterior mandible. Conclusions: The radiographic and CT abnormalities of cherubism in adults were frequent and extremely heterogeneous, with some distinct features. © 2013 The Authors. Published by the British Institute of Radiology