Oral and maxillofacial tumours in children and adolescents: Clinicopathologic audit of 75 cases in an academic medical centre, Sokoto, Northwest Nigeria.
Background
Maxillofacial tumours in children and adolescents have been documented worldwide; however, few studies were reported from Africa, especially sub-Saharan Africa. In Nigeria, most of the studies emanated from the Southwest region.


Aim
To present an audit of clinicopathologic features and treatment of orofacial tumours in children and adolescents in Sokoto, Northwest Nigeria.


Patients and Methods
Clinicopathologic records of the Departments of Dental and Maxillofacial Surgery, Paediatrics and Histopathology, Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto, Nigeria, were reviewed for all the oral and maxillofacial tumours managed in children <19 years from January 2011 to December 2015.


Results
Two hundred and twenty-two tumours were noted in all age groups during the study duration and 75 (33.8%) of these occurred in children and adolescents. A total of 45 (60%) males and thirty (40%) females constitute the patient population with a male to female ratio of 1.5:1. There are 32 (42.7%) benign tumours and 43 (57.3%) malignant tumours. Burkitt's lymphoma was the most common malignant tumour in 24 cases (55.8%), whereas pleomorphic adenoma was the most common benign soft tissue tumour in 4 cases (30.8%) and fibro-osseous lesions were the most common benign jaw tumours in 10 cases (52.6%). Chemotherapy alone was the treatment modality in 24 cases of malignant tumour whereas 13 cases had combination chemotherapy and irradiation.


Conclusions
Our findings established that oral and maxillofacial tumours in children and adolescents are quite common in Sokoto, Northwest region of Nigeria, particularly the malignant types. There is a need for improved universal healthcare insurance for all citizens to adequately manage these children effectively.
['Taiwo|Abdurrazaq Olanrewaju|AO|', 'Braimah|Ramat Oyebunmi|RO|', 'Ibikunle|Adebayo Aremu|AA|', 'Obileye|Mutiat Feyisetan|MF|', 'Jiya|Nma Muhammed|NM|', 'Sahabi|Saddiku Malami|SM|', 'Jaja|Idris Kabiru|IK|']
D000293:Adolescent D002648:Child D002675:Child, Preschool D005153:Facial Neoplasms D005260:Female D006785:Hospitals, University D006801:Humans D008297:Male D008441:Maxillary Neoplasms D009062:Mouth Neoplasms D009549:Nigeria D012983:Soft Tissue Neoplasms D055815:Young Adult
tumours children Adolescents orofacial Burkitt's lymphoma pleomorphic adenoma chemotherapy chemoradiation