A 10-year retrospective study of the clinical presentation, pathology, treatment and outcomes of ameloblastoma and ameloblastic carcinoma in a teaching hospital in Lagos, Nigeria

Background Ameloblastoma is a common benign, odontogenic tumour with high prevalence in Africans, particularly Nigerians. We describe the epidemiology, clinicopathology, pattern of management and incidence of recurrence of ameloblastoma and ameloblastic carcinoma, in Lagos, Nigeria. Methods This retrospective study included ameloblastoma cases surgically managed at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital from January 2012 to December 2021. Primary outcome was recurrence; secondary outcomes were length of hospital (LOH) stay and postoperative complications. Results We included 63 patients with a mean (SD) age of 34.2 (14.8) years, peak incidence (31.7%) in the 3rd decade of life, and male-to-female ratio of 1.03. The most common location, radiological feature and histological type were posterior mandible (77.8%), multilocular radiolucency (90.5%) and follicular ameloblastoma (50.8%), respectively. For surgical intervention, majority of patients had nasotracheal intubation (67.3%) and mandibulectomy (88.9%), and the most common surgical approach was extraoral (67.3%). The mean (SD) LOH stay was 9.4 (2.4) days, and the transoral approach was associated with shortened LOH. The mean follow-up was 2.7 years, and recurrence was recorded in 2 patients who had conventional ameloblastoma, and one who had ameloblastic carcinoma at 3 years and 3 months postoperatively, respectively. No significant association was noted for recurrence-free survival based on tumour size, tumour diagnosis, histological type and surgical approach (p>0.05). Conclusion Although the epidemiology, clinicopathology and treatment of ameloblastoma reported were similar to older reports, this study provides more recent information on the persistent public health burden of ameloblastoma, which can be used for comparisons with ameloblastoma in other populations.