title: [Focal osteoporotic bone marrow defect of the mandible. A little documented pathology].
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Focal hematopoietic bone marrow defect of the mandible is a little documented benign jaw lesion. It is usually diagnosed fortuitously by orthopantomography.
  
  
  METHODS
  A 48-year-old woman was referred by her dentist for radiolucency of the molar mandibular region. This could be observed on the panoramic view as an osteoporotic lesion, located in the molar region and not well delimited. The CT scan confirmed the fact that the lesion did not affect the corticals. The biopsy confirmed the diagnosis of focal osteoporotic bone marrow defect of the mandible.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These lesions have been described for more than 70 years. These benign lesions, often discovered fortuitously, mainly affect women between 40 and 60 years of age. They are mostly located in the "molar area" where tooth avulsion was previously performed, and share the same clinical and radiographic features. Nevertheless, surgical biopsy is needed to confirm the diagnosis.
authors.affiliation: hôpital d'Instruction des Armées-Bégin, Saint-Mandé, France. pierre.haen@yahoo.fr
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Haen
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ranoarivony
authors.forename: J-B
authors.initials: JB
authors.lastname: Seigneuric
mesh_terms: D001706:Biopsy; D001855:Bone Marrow Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D008336:Mandibular Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010024:Osteoporosis / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011862:Radiography, Panoramic; D014057:Tomography, X-Ray Computed