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The clinicoradiologic features and surgical treatment of fibrous dysplasia of the jaws in forty-seven Nigerian patients are described. Marked facial deformity and functional disturbances were the main indications for operation. We noticed one case of malignant transformation. It is our opinion that a more-than-usual aggressive excision is indicated in Nigerian patients.

The radiographs of twenty-five patients (eight males, seventeen females) with histologically proven craniofacial fibrous dysplasia were analyzed. The lesions could be classified into six radiologic types: (1) peau d'orange, (2) whorled plaquelike, (3) diffuse sclerotic, (4) cystlike (multilocular or unilocular), (5) pagetoid, and (6) chalky types. The peau d'orange type was by far the most common (40 per cent) followed by the plaquelike (20 per cent, cystlike (16 per cent), and sclerotic (12 per cent). Most of the patients were young, with 60 per cent being underthe age of 20 years and 96 per cent under the age of 40 years.

There is no good evidence on clinical grounds for any definite differentiation between keloids and hypertrophic scars, employing any of the numerous parameters. Incidence and theories of keloid formation are presented at length with a chemo-therapeutic regimen.

A case of well-formed post-traumatic exostosis arising from bone chips at the site of a fractured proximal phalanx, two years after grenade injuries at the Nigerian civil war has been described. The result was likened to the “take” of an autogenous bone graft. The role of the periosteum at the affected site in acting as a limiting membrane with the power of osteogenesis and modelling, was considered in its genesis.

Summary Osteogenic sarcoma is a relatively rare tumour of the jaw. Seven cases seen within a periodof 14 years in our hospital are presented. The diagnosis and treatment of osteogenic sarcoma of the jaws are briefly discussed.

SUMMARY It is important to emphasize that basal cell carcinoma occurs in black Africans, a fact denied in some reports. The present study shows that the disease appears to behave more aggressively in the African, particularly in albinos, than in Caucasians. In albinos preventive measures should be employed regularly.

Summary The pattern of oral cancer in a Nigerian population is described. Unlike the benign tumours of the jaws, this disease is relatively rare. It is, however, invariably lethal, mostly as a result of late presentation by the patients. At the present time, no aetiological factor can be identified amongst the population.

Radiology plays an important role in preoperative diagnosis and postoperative assessment of ameloblastoma. The postoperative appearances, including complications as well as radiologic features of recurrence, are discussed. The differential diagnosis of the unilocular lesion is difficult, and particularly noteworthy are the five cases of histologically proven adamantinoma whose radiographic appearance closely mimicked dentigerous cyst.

A case of cystic hygroma of the tunica vaginalis testis is described. It was discovered in the differential diagnosis of multiple painless lumps in the scrotum. Its relationship with retroperitoneal lymphatic cysts as well as the nomenclature of these hamartomas is discussed. Treatment was by excision.