Paediatric orofacial malignancies in an African population

Abstract

Objective: Most documented reports on pediatric orofacial malignancies are single institution based and are fraught  with discrepancies. Therefore, they do not adequately describe the regional silhouette of orofacial disease burden;  hence our multicenter study aims to determine the socio-demographics of paediatric orofacial malignancies and assess  the prevailing trend and patterns.

Methods: A cross-sectional retrospective study involving the medical records, surgical biopsy day books, and surgical operations inventory of the involved teaching hospitals and training centers. All centers involved are tertiary institutions which involved departments comprising the Oral pathology, maxillofacial surgery, and paediatric dentistry units of  Lagos State College of Medicine, University of Lagos, University College Hospital, Obafemi Awolowo University, and  Babcock University. These are domiciled in the South-Western axis of the country. Information on socio-demographic  data and clinical parameters was retrieved and analyzed. All complete documented cases within the study years were  utilized.

Results: 72 orofacial malignancies were found in all paediatric age groups from 2008-2018 with an F: M ratio of  1.1:1 and a mean age of 9.5 years. The 13-16 age group had the highest prevalence at 31.9%. The mandible was the most  involved primary site and the mean duration of paediatric malignancies before presentations was 5.3 months.  Sarcomas accounted for 47.2% of all the documented paediatric malignancies, followed by lymphomas.

Conclusion:  There seems to be a change in the prevalence of pediatric orofacial malignancies (POMS) across the decades, with the  most obvious rates observed in decreasing incidence of lymphomas in oral maxillofacial clinics but a steady rise in sarcomas.