Burkitt’s Lymphoma of the Right Jaw in a Child: The Radiographic Features and Case Report

Abstract

Burkitt’s lymphoma is a tumor that most often affects the jaws, most commonly seen in endemic areas of Africa, although the jaws are affected in about 15-18% in non-endemic regions, with prevalence in boys aged between 4-7 years. This is a 12-year-old male child that presented with right jaw painful swelling for more than six-months duration of onset. He was referred for plain radiographs of the jaw from a peripheral healthcare center. The jaw radiograph was done in anterior-posterior and oblique views of both sides respectively. The radiographs demonstrated a soft tissue density mass on the right, with associated destructive lytic lesion involving the right maxilla severelyand the right mandibleto a lesser extent. There is associated loss of lamina dura with severe dental anarchy involving the maxilla. The mandible showed lytic and expansile areas in its body with marked periosteal reaction; the sunray appearance. The contralateral maxilla and mandible have normal appearances. Complementary abdominal ultrasonography revealed normal appearances excluding abdominal involvement. Histology revealed the classic diffuse starry-sky appearance with benign histiocytes containing abundant, clear cytoplasm dispersed among a background of homogeneous, basophilic tumor cells, in keeping with Burkitt’s lymphoma. We report this case to describe the radiographic appearance of Burkitt’s lymphoma of the jaw bones.