%0 Journal Article
%T Quantitative analysis of the epithelial lining architecture in radicular cysts and odontogenic keratocysts
%A Gabriel Landini
%J Head & Face Medicine
%D 2006
%I BioMed Central
%R 10.1186/1746-160x-2-4
%X Epithelial linings from 150 images (from 9 radicular cysts, 13 solitary keratocysts and 8 BCNS keratocysts) were segmented into theoretical cells using a semi-automated partition based on the intensity of the haematoxylin stain which defined exclusive areas relative to each detected nucleus. Various morphometrical parameters were extracted from these "cells" and epithelial layer membership was computed using a systematic clustering routine.Statistically significant differences were observed across the 3 cyst types both at the morphological and architectural levels of the lining. Case-wise discrimination between radicular cysts and keratocyst was highly accurate (with an error of just 3.3%). However, the odontogenic keratocyst subtypes could not be reliably separated into the original classes, achieving discrimination rates slightly above random allocations (60%).The methodology presented is able to provide new measures of epithelial architecture and may help to characterise and compare tissue spatial organisation as well as provide useful procedures for automating certain aspects of histopathological diagnosis.Odontogenic cysts of the jaws include various pathological entities. By definition, these are cysts (i.e. pathological cavities with fluid or semi-fluid contents but excluding pus) with an epithelial lining that derives from the tooth-forming organ epithelia: the so-called glands of Serres (rests of the dental lamina), the rests of Malassez (rests of the root sheath of Hertwig) and the reduced enamel epithelium (remnants of the enamel organ after dental crown formation) ¨C although for odontogenic keratocysts it has also been proposed that the lining may derive from mucosal basal cells [12]. The aetiology of these lesions has been traditionally classed into two different groups: developmental (dentigerous, keratocysts, gingival cysts, etc.) and inflammatory (radicular, residual, paradental cysts). In terms of their incidence, radicular cysts are the commonest (
%U http://www.head-face-med.com/content/2/1/4