JUVENILE OSSIFYING FIBROMA: A RARE CASE REPORT EMPHASIZING CLINICAL, RADIOGRAPHIC, AND HISTOPATHOLOGIC ASPECTS

Juvenile ossifying fibroma (JOF) is a rare fibro-osseous lesion, which most often arises in children, adolescents, and young adults; however, a broad age range has been reported for the psammomatoid and trabecular variants. A 29-year-old male patient presented with a 5-year history of painless swelling in the mandible. Intraoral examination revealed a mass of approximately 3 cm in the molar region of the left mandible. Radiographic examination showed a well-circumscribed radiolucent lesion containing radiopaque areas. An incisional biopsy was performed, and histopathologic evaluation revealed a lesion characterized by deposition of trabecular immature bone within fibrous connective tissue, associated with proliferation of large mesenchymal cells presenting with varied morphology, and multinucleated giant cells. The final diagnosis was JOF (trabecular variant) and the patient was referred to a surgical service for excision of the lesion. This case reinforces the importance of knowledge of clinicopathologic features for the correct diagnosis of JOF.