MUCOCELE AND FIBROMA –A RARE CLINICAL AND HISTOPATHOLOGICAL STUDY

Dr. Humaira Nazir* and Dr. Ifzah Usman

ABSTRACT

Introduction: Mucocele is a benign lesion commonly seen in the buccal mucosa as a result of the rupture of a salivary gland duct and consequent outpouring of mucin into soft tissue. Mucoceles are usually rounded, slightly bluish or translucent, present slow growth, and are more common among children and young adults. Fibroma, on the other hand, is a benign tumor of fibrous connective tissue that can be considered a reactionary connective tissue hyperplasia in response to trauma and irritation. Fibromas are asymptomatic lesions found more frequently in the buccal mucosa, in the fourth decade of life.[1] This study was conducted to analyze the clinical and histopathological features of oral mucocele and fibroma based on age, gender, location of lesions and recurrence rate. Aim: To analyze the clinical and histopathological features of oral mucocele and fibroma based on age, gender, location of lesions and recurrence rate. Methodology: Records of thirty patients with oral lesions were reviewed. Variables like, age, sex and location of lesion, clinical and histopathological diagnoses were gathered. All pathological slides were reassessed. Results: Among the records evaluated 12 were females and 18 males. The age of the patients ranged from 4 to 35 years old. Mucocele was seen in 17 patients and fibroma in 13 cases. Oral mucocele was more prevalent in younger age as compared to fibroma. It was also observed that the mucocele were more common in males while as fibromas were common in females. The most common site of occurrence of mucocele was lower lip while as for fibroma was buccal mucosa with more dimensions than mucocele. The recurrence rate of mucocele was observed more as compared to fibroma. Conclusion: Mucocele can be frequently found in the lower lips of young patients and is associated with higher recurrence rate. Fibroma is found more often in adult patients in the buccal mucosa with lower recurrence rate. Both lesions can be treated by excisional biopsy using the surgical enucleation technique, which presents advantages such as removal of the entire lesion to provide biological material for histopathological examination.

Keywords: Oral mucocele, oral fibroma.