Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2025 Jul 16.
doi: 10.1007/s11282-025-00841-2. Online ahead of print.

Differentiating odontogenic myxoma from ameloblastoma by focusing on cyst-like areas on MR images

Ami Kuribayashi  1 , Shin Nakamura  2 , Hiroshi Watanabe  2 , Sakurako Kawashima  2 , Shinya Kotaki  3 , Akiko Imaizumi  2 , Hiroshi Tomisato  4 , Yoshikazu Nomura  2 , Miharu Taguchi  2 , Arisa Oki  2 , Sakiko Kume  2 , Masahiko Miura  2
Affiliations

Differentiating odontogenic myxoma from ameloblastoma by focusing on cyst-like areas on MR images

Ami Kuribayashi et al. Oral Radiol. .

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to identify characteristic findings of odontogenic myxoma (OM) and assess the role of MRI in differentiating OM from ameloblastoma by analysing cyst-like areas.

Methods: MRI images from 12 and 15 patients with OM and ameloblastoma, respectively, were retrospectively evaluated to determine imaging features useful for differentiation. We analysed cyst-like areas in OM using apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values and gadolinium contrast patterns, comparing them with those in ameloblastoma. ADC values were statistically assessed via the Mann-Whitney U test.

Results: In OM, the mean ADC value of cyst-like areas was 1.84 × 10⁻3 mm2/s. Contrast-enhanced T1-weighted images showed signal enhancement, with a gradual increase on dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI (DCE-MRI). Conversely, in ameloblastoma, the mean ADC value was 2.28 × 10⁻3 mm2/s. Unlike OM, its cyst-like areas lacked enhancement, with only the solid areas exhibiting a rapid signal increase on DCE-MRI. ADC values were significantly higher in ameloblastoma (P < 0.05).

Conclusions: The presence or absence of contrast enhancement in cyst-like areas aids in differentiating OM from ameloblastoma. Additionally, ADC values may be used to differentiate between these tumors in the absence of contrast agents.

Keywords: Ameloblastoma; Diffusion-weighted MR imaging; MRI; Odontogenic myxoma.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

Declarations. Conflicts of interest: None of the authors have any conflicts of interest to declare with respect to this study. Ethics approval: The study protocol was approved by our Institutional Review Board (D2020-066). Informed consent: All procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2008. The requirement for informed consent was waived owing to the retrospective nature of the study.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. El-Naggar AK, Grandis JR, Takata T, Slootweg PJ, editors. WHO classification of head and neck tumours. 4th ed. Lyon: International Agency for Research on Cancer Publications; 2017.
    1. Chrcanovic BR, Gomez RS. Odontogenic myxoma: an updated analysis of 1,692 cases reported in the literature. Oral Dis. 2019;25:676–83. https://doi.org/10.1111/odi.12875 . - DOI - PubMed
    1. Saalim M, Sansare K, Karjodkar FR, Farman AG, Goyal SN, Sharma SR. Recurrence rate of odontogenic myxoma after different treatments: a systematic review. Br J Oral Maxillofac Surg. 2019;57:985–91. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bjoms.2019.09.005 . - DOI - PubMed
    1. Takahashi Y, Tanaka K, Hirai H, Marukawa E, Izumo T, Harada H. Appropriate surgical margin for odontogenic myxoma: a review of 12 cases. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol. 2018;126:404–8. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.oooo.2018.06.002 . - DOI - PubMed
    1. Sumi Y, Miyaishi O, Ito K, Ueda M. Magnetic resonance imaging of myxoma in the mandible: a case report. Oral Surg Oral Med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endod. 2000;90:671–6. https://doi.org/10.1067/moe.2000.108917 . - DOI - PubMed