Oral hamartomas. A rare clinical case from the practice of a maxillofacial surgeon: hard palate hamartoma

Abstract

Relevance. Hamartomas are common in the lungs, liver, spleen, pancreas, and kidneys. Head and neck hamartomas are rare and oral hamartomas are still rarer. The feature of hamartoma is that it consists of the same tissue elements as the affected organ; however, it is characterized by an abnormal structure. Hamartomas are most often benign tumours though there were described episodes of malignancy and development of hamartoblastomas, so the maxillofacial surgeon and the dentist should be cancer alert in this case. A small number of diagnosis cases may reflect the true rarity of the disease or may be missed, which can lead to mismanagement of the patient.
Purpose. To study the literature on oral hamartomas and present a clinica l case of hard palate hamartoma.
Materials and methods. We analyzed the world medical literature about oral hamartomas and hard palate hamartomas in particular and presented a clinical case of hard palate hamartoma diagnosis in a thirty-four-year-old woman. The immunohistochemical test evaluated the markers reflecting the tumour proliferation level.
Results. We analyzed the world literature on oral hamartomas and presented a clinical case of the diagnosis and treatment of hard palate hamartoma identified in a thirty-four-year-old woman at an appointment with a maxillofacial surgeon. After the surgical treatment, a histological examination verified the hamartoma.
Conclusion. Hard palate hamartomas are rare in the practice of the maxillofacial surgeon and dentist. Learning specific features of hamartomatous lesions is essential to understand how to plan the necessary treatment for a patient with such pathology. Immunohistochemical research methods allow for accurate histological diagnosis, which further determines the patient management strategy.