Differential imaging diagnosis of a swelling after extraction in a breast cancer patient with radiotherapy and chemotherapy

A 60-year-old female, who complained of delayed healing and swelling after extraction of left lower second molar during chemotherapy, visited our department. She had a history of a resection surgery of breast cancer and postoperative radiotherapy. The conventional radiographs showed diffuse primitive bone destruction in posterior mandibular body, which gave the first radiologic impression of osteonecrosis associated with radiotherapy or chemotherapy. And bone metastasis from the breast cancer was also considered in the differential diagnosis. On the enhanced computed tomography (ECT) the posterior mandibular body was occupied by a large expansible lesion showing central low attenuation with peripheral rim enhancement. Magnetic resonance images revealed that the low attenuated area on ECT did not show as high signal intensity as water on T2 weighted image and indicated solid component of a tumor. The final diagnosis was central squamous cell carcinoma. We present the diagnostic imaging features of the patient with special emphasis on the differential diagnosis