Gaucher disease with jawbone involvement: a case report

INTRODUCTION: Gaucher disease is an autosomal recessive systemic condition, and the most common of the lysosomal storage disorders. It is characterized by lipid accumulation in certain cells and organs, particularly macrophages, which appear on light microscopy as ’Gaucher cells’ or vacuolated lipid-laden reticuloendothelial cells. Long bone involvement is common in Gaucher disease, whereas craniofacial bone involvement is extremely rare. Reports confirming the diagnoses of Gaucher disease involving craniofacial bones by histopathologic evidence are even rarer. CASE PRESENTATION: A 46-year-old Caucasian Ashkenazi Jewish woman with Gaucher disease presented with jawbone pain and lytic radiographic lesions of her mandible. Surgical biopsy of a mandibular lesion revealed Gaucher cells infiltrating the mandible, which correlated with radiographic and clinical findings, supporting a diagnosis of Gaucher disease with jawbone involvement. CONCLUSIONS: Lysosomal storage diseases can have head and neck manifestations, and bone involvement in Gaucher disease is common. Therefore, careful consideration of signs and symptoms and medical history, with a thorough review of systems, is important when evaluating patients with lysosomal storage disorders to rule out head and neck involvement of disease. Biopsy may be warranted in some cases for more definitive diagnosis of painful jawbone lesions and to rule out other odontogenic and non-odontogenic conditions in the differential diagnosis.