Oral manifestation of acute myeloid leukemia

Hypertrophic or hyperplastic alterations of the marginal gingivaare the locally or generalized appearing answer to differentinteractions between host and soft tissue. In many cases theseenlargements are exclusively plaque-induced and treatable byprofessional tooth cleaning and regular controls. Specialattention must be directed to those enlargements of the gingiva,which exclude poor oral hygiene as the only cause. To thisgroup belong medically, traumatically or genetically inducedalterations of the gingiva as well as oral manifestations ofdifferent systemic diseases, i. e. white blood cell diseases.Leukemiae are a group of neoplastic diseases, which arecharacterized by proliferation of immature white blood cells inthe bone marrow and blood. Gingival enlargements aregenerally associated with acute forms of leukemia and areparticularly seen in cases of Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML). Wereport on a 34 year old female patient with generalized gingivalenlargements, who was referred to our ambulance by themedical clinic with the diagnosis of AML. Clinical findings wererecorded photographically and a soft tissue biopsy was takenand prepared for histologic evaluation. This case reportdocuments the association of gingivo-periodontal alterationswith white blood cell diseases. By referring such patients forhematologic investigation, the dentist may aid in the detectionand early treatment of the underlying malady. Keywords: Acute myeloid leukemia, oral manifestation, gingival overgrowth