Early oral signs of Burkitt's lymphoma cell leukemia

This paper reports on two patients with Burkitt's lymphoma cell leukemia in whom the early diagnostic signs appeared in the oral cavity. They both manifested gingival swelling, spontaneous bleeding, teeth mobility and sensitivity to percussion, loss of sensation of chin and lips and severe pain in different parts of the mouth. Radiographs showed alveolar bone resorption, basal jaw bone loss, diffuse demineralization, loss of bony boundaries and destruction of the periodontium. These signs preceded any other clinical or laboratory suspicion of a systemic spread of the proliferative disease, and were those which pointed towards the spread of the localized Burkitt's lymphoma into its leukemic form.