Surgical Treatment of Facial Artery Pseudoaneurysm Following Blunt Trauma: Report of a Case.

There are few reports of pseudoaneurysm of the facial artery in the literature and very little attention has been paid to their surgical management. Practitioners should be aware of this unusual complication of facial trauma and of the alternatives for treatment of pseudoaneurysms. Surgical resection of selective head and neck pseudoaneurysms provides a safe and effective method for the treatment of these vascular lesions.

Ghost Cell Tumors.

Ghost cell tumors are a family of lesions that range in presentation from cyst to solid neoplasm and in behavior from benign to locally aggressive or metastatic. All are characterized by the presence of ameloblastic epithelium, ghost cells, and calcifications. This report presents the cases of a 14-year-old girl with a calcifying cystic odontogenic tumor (CCOT) and a 65-year-old woman with a peripheral dentinogenic ghost cell tumor (DGCT) with dysplastic changes, a rare locally invasive tumor of odontogenic epithelium. The first patient presented with a 1-year history of slowly progressing pain and swelling at the left body of the mandible. Initial panoramic radiograph displayed a mixed radiolucent and radiopaque lesion. An incisional biopsy yielded a diagnosis of CCOT. Decompression of the mass was completed; after 3 months, it was enucleated and immediately grafted with bone harvested from the anterior iliac crest. The second patient presented with a 3-month history of slowly progressing pain and swelling at the left body of the mandible. Initial panoramic radiograph depicted a mixed radiolucent and radiopaque lesion with saucerization of the buccal mandibular cortex. An incisional biopsy examination suggested a diagnosis of DGCT because of the presence of ghost cells, dentinoid, and islands of ameloblastic epithelium. Excision of the mass with peripheral ostectomy was completed. At 6 and 12 months of follow-up, no evidence of recurrence was noted.

External fixation of unstable, "flail" nasal fractures.

Nasal bone fractures are the most common among facial fractures. Usually these are adequately treated with closed reduction and internal and/or external stabilization with splints. However, there are clinical situations where the nasal bones are severely displaced, the nasal septum fractured and displaced, or there are external drape lacerations which preclude the use of nasal splints. If the nasal bones are reducible but unstable we consider them "flail" and in this case transmucosal, endonasal Kirschner wires are used for dorsal support until sufficient healing occurs. The technique is simple, quick, and predictable and causes minimal discomfort to the patients.