Surgical ciliated cyst: a case report

This report describes a case of surgical ciliated cyst (SCC) in maxilla. A 25-year-old male patient was referred for diagnosis of a maxillary swelling with a duration of 6 months. During anamnesis, the patient reported having undergone orthognathic surgery 4 years ago. Imaging exams showed a unilocular radiolucent/hypodense lesion in the right maxilla associated with a rigid fixation plate. The main diagnostic hypothesis was radicular cyst. Therefore, excisional biopsy was performed under local anesthesia. Histopathologic examination revealed a cystic cavity lined mainly by ciliated pseudostratified columnar epithelium. Simple cuboidal epithelium was also observed. The fibrous connective tissue capsule was infiltrated by a moderate chronic inflammatory reaction. The histopathologic findings confirmed the diagnosis of SCC. No clinical or imaging signs of recurrence were observed after 4 years of treatment. SCC should be considered in the differential diagnosis of maxillary radiolucent images in patients who have previously undergone surgery.