Search

Purpose:The purpose of this study was to describe the clinical characteristics of a series of patients presenting with benign trigeminal sensory neuropathy. Patients and Methods:We conducted a retrospective analysis of the clinical and pathologic characteristics of 23 patients presenting with facial numbness of unknown etiology. Results:Patients presented with diverse medical histories but could be grouped into those with a connective tissue disorder, neurologic disease, psychologic problems, or a medical history of unknown significance. The age of the patient, the severity and distribution of the trigeminal neuropathy, and symptoms other than neuropathy closely reflected the patient's medical history. The majority of patients underwent magnetic resonance imaging, but the results did not facilitate the diagnosis of the condition or reflect the extent and severity of the symptoms. In 60% of patients, the symptoms remained unchanged during the course of the study and outcome was not influenced by medical treatment. Conclusions:The diagnosis and management of benign trigeminal sensory neuropathy remain a significant clinical challenge. © 2003 American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons J Oral Maxillofac Surg 61:325-332, 2003

The demographics of 147 HIV-infected persons attending a special care dental clinic in South West England are reported. The majority of attendants were homosexual/bisexual males, reflecting the UK epidemiology of HIV disease at the time of study. There was a substantial rise in patient numbers from 1988 onwards but patients often did not reveal their route of HIV acquisition or increasingly had acquired HIV disease via heterosexual routes. Patients were usually referred for routine dental treatment, not HIV-related oral disease. The HIV-infected patients generally attended the clinic irregularly, despite being offered many appointments. It is concluded that most patients with HIV disease attend clinics for routine dental care, yet many may be unable or unwilling to attend regularly

This study examines the expression of anchorage independence and tumorigenicity in early cultures of oral rat keratinocytes. The epithelial cell lines originated from the palatal and the lingual mucosa of rats that had been painted with the carcinogen 4-nitroquinoline N-oxide. The colony forming efficiency (CFE) in gel culture of the cell lines derived from five squamous cell carcinomas of the tongue and palate predominantly increased with passage in culture. Carcinoma-derived cell lines that had a relatively high CFE (>2.5%) formed tumours when transplanted to athymic mice, but cells in which the CFE was <2.5% were non-tumorigenic. Keratinocytes from a dysplastic palatal lesion were immortal, anchorage dependent and non-tumorigenic. A lingual papilloma cell line consistently expressed a very low CFE but was tumorigenic at the higher culture passages. The results show that the routine passage of cells in culture leads to the emergence of the anchorage independent and tumorigenic phenotypes in keratinocytes of malignant origin and, further, suggest that anchorage independence and tumorigenicity may exist as distinct phenotypes, with anchorage independence preceding tumorigenicity.

This is the last of a series of three articles on the recognition of oral lesions of HIV infection. It deals with the less common, and some rare lesions

Oral problems are often the first significant clinical manifestations of infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Their early recognition affords the best opportunity for effective therapeutic intervention of HIV infection and opportunistic infections, as well as for oral health education in order to avoid future problems. This also provides optimal time for behaviour modification and coming to terms with the psychosocial consequences of HIV disease. This series of three articles presents a pictorial review and update on the oral manifestations of HIV infection

This study examined the effect of 3T3 fibroblasts on the expression of anchorage independence and the degree of cornification in early cultures of three carcinoma-derived epithelial cell lines (R59, R63a, R63b) and in one cell line derived from non-malignant dysplastic epithelium where there was no evidence of invasion (R66a). The epithelial cell lines originated from the palatal (R63a, R66a) and the lingual (R59, R63b) mucosa of rats that had been painted with the carcinogen 4-nitroquinoline N-oxide. In the absence of 3T3 fibroblasts, progressive culture resulted in an increase in the colony forming efficiency (CFE) of R63a, R63b and R59 and a decrease in the percentage of cornified cells in all cell lines. 3T3 fibroblasts caused a decrease in the CFE and the degree of cornification in the 3T3-dependent cell line (R63a), particularly at the lower passages, but these parameters remained essentially unchanged by 3T3 fibroblasts in the 3T3-independent cell lines (R59, R63b). 3T3 fibroblasts did not influence the cornification of R66a and this cell line remained anchorage dependent throughout the study. The results suggest that in malignant cell lines characterised by being independent of 3T3 fibroblasts (R63b, R59) the CFE was inversely correlated to the degree of cornification. However, in the malignant cell line showing a greater dependence on support (R63a) the relationship between CFE and cornification was unclear because these parameters may have been modulated by the presence of 3T3 fibroblasts. The cell line from dysplastic non-invasive tissue (R66a) differed from its malignant counterparts in the fact that CFE and cornification were unaffected by 3T3 fibroblasts despite previous studies showing a dependence on mesenchymal support.