Extragingival peripheral ameloblastoma of the parapharyngeal space: a case report and review of the literature

Peripheral ameloblastoma (PA) is rare. It occurs in the extraosseous region and makes up approximately 2% to 10% of all ameloblastomas, but the extragingival PA is rarer. Only 13 cases of PA were reported at the extragingival site. In the current report, the unusual case of a 52-year-old male is presented. The patient exhibited a painless irregular mass in the right parapharyngeal space, which infiltrated the soft palate and the medial pterygoid, as observed by computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging. Hematoxylin and eosin-stained sections and immunohistochemical examination revealed a diagnosis of PA. It must be noted that histopathology results may be incorrectly interpreted as basaloid squamous cell carcinoma, peripheral ossifying fibroma and peripheral giant cell granuloma. The primary symptom of extragingival PA is often misdiagnosed, which has been admitted to be a pivotal cause of therapy failure in patients.