Surgical strategy for medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ) on maxilla: A multicenter retrospective study

BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Because the anatomy and the nature of the bone tissue between the mandible and maxilla are largely different, more site-specific studies are required to improve the healing rate on medication-related osteonecrosis of the jaw (MRONJ). The present study assessed maxillary MRONJ that was treated by surgery to understand its clinical characteristics, and to identify critical factors that influenced outcomes. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The medical records of 54 patients with maxillary MRONJ who underwent surgery were retrospectively reviewed. Variables related to the prognosis of MRONJ were extracted from the medical records and imaging, and were statistically analyzed. We also evaluated the concomitant maxillary sinusitis (MS) after the surgical treatment of MRONJ, based on CT evaluation and change of symptoms. RESULTS: The healing rate of surgery for maxillary MRONJ was 85.2%, which suggested that surgical treatment is an effective strategy for treating maxillary MRONJ. Multivariate analysis revealed that postoperative residual necrotic bone was a poor prognosticator for maxillary MRONJ. Among 10 patients who did not obtain healing of MS postoperatively, 8 patients showed an improvement. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that surgical treatment is an appropriate strategy for maxillary MRONJ and complete resection of necrotic bone (i.e., extensive surgery) is needed to obtain complete healing of maxillary MRONJ. Concomitant MS tends to be healed or improved clinically in combination with the healing of maxillary MRONJ.