Oral maxillofacial neoplasms in an East African population a 10 year retrospective study of 1863 cases using histopathological reports

BACKGROUND: Neoplasms of the oral maxillofacial area are an interesting entity characterized by differences in nomenclature and classification at different centers. We report neoplastic histopathological diagnoses seen at the departments of oral maxillofacial surgery of Muhimbili and Mulago referral hospitals in Tanzania and Uganda respectively over a 10-year period. METHODS: We retrieved histopathological reports archived at the departments of oral maxillofacial surgery of Muhimbili and Mulago referral hospitals in Tanzania and Uganda respectively over a 10-year period from June 1989–July 1999. RESULTS: In the period between June 1989 and July 1999, 565 and 1298 neoplastic oro-facial cases were retrieved of which 284 (50.53%) and 967 (74.54%) were malignant neoplasms at Muhimbili and Mulago hospitals respectively. Overall 67.28% of the diagnoses recorded were malignant with Kaposi's sarcoma (21.98%), Burkiits lymphoma (20.45%), and squamous cell carcinoma (15.22%) dominating that group while ameloblastoma (9.23%), fibromas (7.3%) and pleomorphic adenoma (4.95%) dominated the benign group. The high frequency of malignancies could be due to inclusion criteria and the clinical practice of selective histopathology investigation. However, it may also be due to higher chances of referrals in case of malignancies. CONCLUSION: There is need to reexamine the slides in these two centers in order to bring them in line with the most recent WHO classification so as to allow for comparison with reports from else where.