چكيده لاتين :
It is sometimes difficult to recognize a jaw lesion as osteosarcoma, ossifying fibroma or
fibrous dysplasia in routine hematoxylin and eosin staining and a more accurate technique is needed to
differentiate these lesions. Many studies have shown the potential usefulness of silver-stained nucleolar
organizer region (AgNOR) parameters for the diagnosis of various neoplasms. This study was carried
out on 42 archival biopsy specimens of jaw lesions including 14 fibrous dysplasias, 14 ossifying
fibromas and 14 osteosarcomas (10 well differentiated and 4 poorly differentiated). Number of
AgNORs was evaluated on formalin-fixed, paraffin embedded sections. The mean AgNOR counts
showed significant differences between these lesions. The mean counts of AgNORs were < 1 for
fibrous dysplasia, 1 to 2.5 for ossifying fibroma and well differentiated osteosarcoma, and > 6 for
poorly differentiated osteosarcoma. By considering a cutoff point of 1.81-2.5 for well differentiated
osteosarcoma and 1-1.8 for ossifying fibroma, well differentiated osteosarcoma can be differentiated
from ossifying fibroma with a sensitivity of 90% and a specificity of 64.3%. The area under the ROC
curve was 0.84. The results in this study indicate that AgNOR staining is a useful technique for
differential diagnosis of osteosarcoma, ossifying fibroma and fibrous dysplasia of jaws when it is
difficult to recognize these lesions in routine hematoxylin and eosin staining.
