Imaging diagnostic approach to tumours of ramus and angle of the mandible.
The abundance of up-to-date diagnostic equipment and imaging techniques makes it necessary to reconsider diagnostic approach to many maxillofacial disorders, including mandibular tumours, and to elaborate algorithms of radiological examinations allowing for the planning of a cost-effective treatment based on thorough diagnostics. The material was composed of 146 case records of 68 patients examined in the years 1995-2000 in the Medical University of Lublin. There were selected radiograms as well as the results of other imaging modalities of persons with clinically confirmed tumours of mandibular ramus or angle. In each case there were noted: the initial and the final diagnosis as well as the number and sequence of the performed diagnostic examinations. On the basis of the obtained results there was proposed a diagnostic algorithm in cases of mandibular angle and ramus tumours, which was presented in the form of a scheme. It was proved that conventional radiograms are still fundamental in initial selection of patients while other diagnostic imaging methods are indispensable in treatment planning.