Osteonecrosis of the jaws associated with denosumab: Study of clinical and radiographic characteristics in a series of clinical cases

BACKGROUND: The objective of this study was to describe the clinical and radiographic characteristics of our series of medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaws (ONJ) associated with denosumab. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We presented 15 cases of ONJ associated with denosumab; 11 received treatment for their osteoporosis and four for cancer treatments. We recorded the most frequent clinical findings, symptoms and radiographic characteristics in our patient group, as well as local and systemic contributing factors. RESULTS: The mean time of treatment with denosumab was 23.83 ± 12.84 months. 40% of the patients had a previous history of treatment with bisphosphonates. The most common local factor was tooth extraction (11 cases; 73.3%), and in most cases there was necrotic bone exposure (13/15, 86.67%). Osteolysis, bone sclerosis and cortical erosion were the most common radiographic findings. Stage 1 was the most frequent, present in 60% of the cases. CONCLUSIONS: In our patient group, most were in the early stages of ONJ. Key words:Denosumab, osteonecrosis, jaws, radiology.