Evaluation of the snowing-like ultrasonographic features of intraosseous jaw pathologies

BAYRAKDAR İ. Ş., YILMAZ A. B., Kaplan F., BİLGİR E., ORHAN K.

JOURNAL OF ULTRASONOGRAPHY, cilt.20, sa.83, 2020 (ESCI) identifier identifier identifier

  • Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
  • Cilt numarası: 20 Sayı: 83
  • Basım Tarihi: 2020
  • Doi Numarası: 10.15557/jou.2020.0053
  • Dergi Adı: JOURNAL OF ULTRASONOGRAPHY
  • Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Emerging Sources Citation Index (ESCI), Scopus, Academic Search Premier, Directory of Open Access Journals
  • Dokuz Eylül Üniversitesi Adresli: Hayır

Özet

Aim of the study: Ultrasonographic examination of intraosseous jaw pathologies may reveal interesting incidental, mobile hyperechoic particles ("snowflakes") in anechoic areas. Purpose of this study is to explain and discuss this snowing-like ultrasonographic feature of intraosseous jaw pathologies. Material and methods: This study included 113 patients admitted to our clinic for examination: 43 (38.05%) males and 70 (61.9%) females with a mean age of 34.9 +/- 17.2 years (range: 6-72 years). A total of 120 intraosseous lesions were evaluated prior to surgery using ultrasonography; these included non-neoplastic, odontogenic, and non-odontogenic lesions. Results: In total, 5 (4.1%) of the 120 lesions exhibited snowing-like feature on ultrasonography, including 2 (1.6% of total) of 3 incisive canal cysts, 2 (1.6% of total) of 7 dentigerous cysts, and 1 (0.8% of total) of 19 odontogenic keratocysts. Conclusions: Snowflakes evident on ultrasonography of intraosseous jaw lesions may be specific to certain pathologies. Future studies correlating radiologic and pathologic features of intraosseous jaw lesions should focus on ultrasonographic snowing-like appearance in different types of lesions and explore why they occur.