Central giant cell granuloma of the head & neck: A case report and systematic review

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to describe a recent case of central giant cell granuloma (CGCG) that rapidly progressed post corticosteroid treatment while also providing a review of the existing literature on CGCG of the head and neck (HNCGCG), with particular emphasis on extra-mandibular and maxillary cases.Materials and Methods: The investigators designed and implemented a 32-year review of literature, using the online databases: PubMed, Google Scholar, Medline, and Proquest. The total number of cases analyzed was 55 (42 case reports; 3 case series; 8 comparative studies; 1 retrospective cohort).Case Presentation: We present a case of a CGCG in a 10-year old male. The lesion originated in the right ante-rior mandibular body and progressed after corticosteroid treatment. Diagnosis was made using a combina-tion of imaging and histology. A timely debulking procedure of the hemi-mandible was performed and there was no recurrence of the lesion at follow up.Results: The average age at the time of diagnosis of CGCG was 27.5 years. HNCGCG was most commonly detected in the jaw (43.1%), but was also found in the temporal bone (33.3%). The most frequently employed treatment modality was complete surgical excision (76.9%). 93.2% of patients were alive with no evidence of disease at follow-up, while 6.8% of patients exhibited recurrence at follow-up. The median follow up was 13 months.Conclusion: It is important for clinicians to recognize that CGCGs are capable of manifesting outside of the jaw. CGCG should be considered in the differential diagnosis of non-odontogenic radiolucent lesions, espe-cially in young patients. CGCGs also need to be distinguished from brown tumor of hyperparathyroidism (BTH) and giant cell tumors, which are histologically similar.(c) 2021 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.