Radiographic evaluation of Stafne Bone Cyst in patients referred to a radiology center in Mashhad, Iran: A 3-year survey

Introduction : The aim of this study was to evaluate the radiographic features of stafne bone defects in patients referred to a private radiology center from March 2013 to 2016 in Mashhad, Iran. Materials and Method: In this retrospective cross-sectional study 5000 CBCTs were evaluated with the definitive diagnosis of SBD. Radiolucencies between the molar region and angle of mandible were considered as SBD and if no increase in the size of the depressions was observed in the second panoramic view, the diagnosis of SBD was made. After selecting the radiographs with SBD, all their radiographic characteristics were recorded. Results : Among the 5000 CBCT radiographs, 10 (0.2%) SBD cases were diagnosed, 9 in males and only 1 case in a female. All SBDs were between the molar regions and the angle of mandible and were categorized as the posterior variant of SBD. In our studied cases SBD was near the inferior border of mandible and in 3 cases the depressions disrupted the continuity of the inferior mandibular border. The lesion’s shape was oval in 7 cases and round in the others. In total 5 cases were categorized as type I, 4 as type II and one case as type III of SBD. Conclusion : According to our findings, SBD is an uncommon lesion in the mandible and CBCT can be used as a non-invasive method to detect this defect.. Keywords : Stafne Bone Defect (SBD), Cone beam computed tomography (CBCT), Panoramic radiography.