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Central haemangioma: variance in radiographic appearance

Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, College of Dental Surgery, Manipal, Karnataka-576104, India

*Correspondence to: Dr Archna Nagpal, Department of Oral Medicine and Radiology, College of Dental Surgery, Manipal, Karnataka-576104, India; E-mail: drarchnanagpal{at}hotmail.com

Received 19 February 2004; revised 21 December 2004; accepted 28 December 2004

Central haemangioma, a "great mimicker" which, fortunately, is a relatively rare condition, may pose a lethal risk for the patient. The diagnosis may become apparent only during biopsy or tooth extraction, which poses a risk of lethal exsanguination; therefore a correct diagnosis is desirable before any biopsy is undertaken. The clinician may not anticipate the severe haemorrhage because of vague clinical history, physical findings and ambiguous radiographic characteristics of the lesion. We report a case of central haemangioma of the mandible whose clinical and radiographic features were equivocal. In addition, an attempt is made to discuss all possible radiographic presentations of central haemangioma and consider differential diagnosis. This case is significant for the reason that it had diverse radiographic appearances in various areas of the lesion in different projections.

Keywords: haemangioma; capillary; mandible; aspiration; radiography