Healing of the bone incision following Le Fort I osteotomy.

A histologic evaluation of punch biopsies from the osteotomy sites of five patients who had undergone a Le Fort I procedure was performed. Results of the evaluation indicated that the area between the segments healed with mature compact bone.

Intraoral melanoacanthoma.

Two cases of melanoacanthoma occurring on oral mucous membranes are presented. Melanoacanthoma is considered to be a benign mixed tumor of keratinoacytes admixed with pigment-laden dendritic melanocytes. All intraoral melanoacanthomas reported thus far have been pigmented lesions of the buccal mucosa and have occurred in young to middle-aged black females. These tumors may grow rapidly and therefore they often mimic the radial growth phase of an intraoral melanoma. Because melanocanthomas have no distinguishing clinical features, biopsy is mandatory.

Follicular lymphoid hyperplasia of the hard palate: a benign lymphoproliferative process.

Follicular lymphoid hyperplasia of the hard palate is a reactive lymphoid proliferation which closely simulates the palatal lymphomas, both clinically and histologically. It is therefore imperative that the pathologist be familiar with the features that separate these two conditions. In equivocal cases like the present one, immunologic analysis would seem to be indicated to determine whether the lesion is monoclonal (neoplastic) or polyclonal (reactive).

Evaluation of cardiovascular and pulmonary changes during meperidine-diazepam anesthesia.

Studies were conducted in 189 oral surgery out-patients to evaluate the combination of meperidine hydrochloride and diazepam for anesthesia and to determine its effect on the cardiovascular and pulmonary systems. Results showed that neither ventricular cardiac arrhythmias nor clinically significant respiratory depression occurred in the sedated patients; meperidine-diazepam proved to be satisfactory for oral surgical procedures.