[Sports activities and maxillofacial injuries. Current epidemiologic and clinical aspects relating to a series of 379 cases (1982-1998)].

Background: The constant improvement in the quality of individual life and growing interest in sporting activities have resulted in an increased use of sport in free time at amateur level. As a result, sports injuries have steadily increased since the late 1980s. The aim of this study was to illustrate our experience in the treatment of injuries in this particular category.

Maxillofacial trauma in the elderly.

Purpose: This article gives a general description of the incidence, causes, and complexity of maxillofacial fractures in the elderly and discusses whether modification is required in assessment, surgical indications, and techniques in such cases.

Patients And Methods: A retrospective clinical and radiologic study evaluated 222 patients older than 60 years of age (mean age, 70.3) hospitalized with maxillofacial trauma over the period 1987 to 1996 in the Division of Maxillofacial Surgery, University of Turin.

[The validation of stereolithographic anatomical replicas: the authors' own experience and a review of the literature].

The visual three-dimensional (3D) reconstruction of CT findings has been used since the Seventies to design and plan complex surgical procedures. The availability of such models and the development of computer science have permitted, since the mid-Eighties, the medical use of rapid prototyping for anatomical modelling. We studied the technical steps of CT data processing for rapid prototyping and the dimensional and structural accuracy of replicas of skeletal components relative to the originals.

[Fracture of the glenoid fossa without condylar dislocation and with intact mandibular condyle. Report of a case].

The osteomuscular structure of the cranium presents peculiar anatomic characteristics that aim to preserve the noble organs that are housed inside or are adjacent to them. This is also true of the condylar region which protects the cranial cavity from forces transmitted to the glenoid cavity by the condyle in traumatism to the facial region and above all the genial symphysis. These factors act as "force breakers" to prevent the condyle penetrating the middle cranial fossa.

[Tuberculous lesions of the cervico-facial area. A case load of 20 years].

Background: Tuberculosis is a granulomatous inflammatory process consequent to infection by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (human or bovine type). In the maxillofacial district easily the most frequent localisation is the laterocervical and submandibular lymph nodes.

Materials And Methods: The series presented here includes cases of specific tubercular infection of the maxillo-facial district observed by the Division of Maxillo-Facial Surgery of the University of Turin during the period 1975 and 1995.

[Evaluation of the posture of patients before and after orthodontic surgery].

Introduction And Aims: The term "craniomandibular disorder" is used to describe a series of symptoms and signs that directly affect the stomatognathic apparatus with possible repercussions on the otovestibular and oculomotor apparatus and on the cervical spine that may condition the entire body posture. The aim of this study was to evaluate a series of parameters correlated to the occlusal situation and to verify how these factors are affected by a change following the correction of occulusal ratios.

Methods: The paper reports a series of 15 patients suffering from facial dysmorphia treated surgically in the Division of Maxillofacial Surgery of S.

Rigid fixation with teeth in the line of mandibular fractures.

The treatment results and the incidence of complications were evaluated retrospectively in a group of 68 patients. They all had mandibular fractures with a tooth in the line of fracture and were treated using miniplates for fixation. The follow up ranged from 1 to 6 years (mean 2.

[Polyostotic fibrous dysplasia. A clinical case report].

The authors present a severe case of polyostotic fibrous dysplasia in which there was considerable involvement of cranial bone and facial skeleton. Numerous lesions were present at the level of the long bones of limbs. Endocrine dysfunction was also present in the form of a hypophyseal adenoma secreting prolactin and ACTH.

[Adenophlegmons of the neck area. A case report and review of the literature].

Adenopathies in general and cervicofacial adenopathies in particular are a pathology that can affect both medical and surgical disciplines. They may be found in both acute and chronic disorders, in children and in adults, and in local or systemic forms with benign or malignant pathogenesis. It is clear that the differential diagnosis and consequently the therapeutic approach may be complicated at times by the variety of pathological processes.

[Brown tumor of the jaws].

Brown tumour is one of the forms in which fibrous-cystic osteitis, which represents the terminal stage of the bone remodelling processes during primary or secondary hyperparathyroidism, is manifested. For years brown tumour was regarded as a typical lesion of primary hyperparathyroidism, but cases of brown tumours in patients with hyperparathyroidism secondary to renal failure were increasingly often reported in the literature. From an epidemiological point of view, the frequency of brown tumours in patients with renal insufficiency is extremely variable, as is the bone site affected.

[Dermoid cysts of the oral floor. A clinical case report and review of the literature].

The authors report two cases of dermoid cysts of the oral floor. The incidence of this pathology in this region is difficult to assess due to the rarity of reported cases. In particular, dermoid cysts appear to derive from the inclusion of epithelial cells on the median line in the fusion point between the first and second branchial arch.

[Midline granuloma. A clinical case report].

Granuloma gangraenescens or "midline granuloma" (Stewart's malignant granuloma, idiopathic midline destructive syndrome) is a rare clinical syndrome. In clinical practice, the destructive process of the facial midline may appear as a symptom of various infective, malignant or autoimmune diseases. In addition to these cases, a number of cases have been reported in the literature since 1896 with the diagnosis of lethal midline granuloma.

[Keratoacanthoma of the lower lip. A review of the literature and clinical case report].

The authors report a case of keratoacanthoma localized on the prolabium of the lower lip. They focus their attention on the difficulty of making a correct diagnosis and on the complexity of differential diagnosis with squamous cell carcinoma. After incisional biopsy of the lesion, treatment took the form of the complete excision of the neoplasm which is indispensable for a definitive diagnosis.

[Anatomicosurgical comments on the importance of the spinal accessory nerve].

The preserved integrity of the spinal accessory nerve plays an extremely important role in cervico-facial surgery since the majority of surgical approaches involve this nervous structure. Following a short historical outline of the surgical method, the Authors illustrate the anatomo-topographical aspects and anatomo-surgical problems. A number of points emerge from a review of the literature which are vital to isolate the spinal accessory nerve: 1) the transversal apophysis of the atlas is particularly prominent in the retrostyloid space and lies half-way across an imaginary horizontal segment connecting the mastoid process with the angle of the mandible; 2) the posterior edge of the sternocleidomastoid muscle at approximately six centimetres from the mastoid process; 3) the nervous point of Erb located at the point where the superficial branches of the cervical plexus emerge from the posterior edge of the sternocleidomastoid muscle (the nerve generally emerges from the posterior edge of the sternocleidomastoid muscle two centimetres above this point and two centimetres below it the nerve meets the anterior edge of the trapezius).

[Bone clefts of the median facial structures. An anatomical study].

After reviewing the literature concerning rare facial fissions, the authors describe the skull of a young woman with an incomplete bone fission of the median facial structures. They focus on the associated bone anomalies observed in the skeleton of the nose and upper jaw.

[A clinical evaluation of the outcome of a bone graft from the iliac crest].

The paper examine 40 cases of bone graft from the iliac crest used in maxillo-facial surgery. The immediate and late complications included pain with resulting difficulty of walking and, less frequently, hematoma, sensitivity disorders and dehiscence of the wound. Late complications were most frequently related to esthetic problems as well as a negligible number of persistent cases of difficult walking and neurological deficiencies.