Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Journal of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Medicine, and Pathology, 2026 (ESCI, Scopus)
Objective: The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of fractal analysis (FA), and lacunarity analysis (LA) in the identification and differential diagnosis of odontogenic cysts. Methods: A retrospective analysis included panoramic radiographs from 210 patients (107 females, 103 males; mean age: 32.0 ± 10.9 years), categorized equally into three groups based on pathology: radicular cysts (n = 70), dentigerous cysts (n = 70), and odontogenic keratocysts (n = 70). Two distinct Regions of Interest were selected from each image: one representing the cystic area (case) and one from the adjacent healthy trabecular bone (control). Each region of interest underwent filtering (Gaussian blur, subtraction from original) and conversion into a binary skeletonized image for quantitative analysis, and the identically processed images were subsequently utilized for LA. Results: In all three cyst groups, the FA values of the Control group were found to be significantly higher than the Case group (p < 0.001), however, no statistically significant difference was observed between the Control and Case groups in LA values (p > 0.05). In the Control group, there were no statistically significant differences among the three cysts groups regarding either FA or LA (p > 0.05). In the Case group, the mean FA value of the dentigerous cysts group was significantly lower than the other cysts (p < 0.001), while LA values no show a significant distinction (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Fractal analysis demonstrated significant differences between healthy and cystic bone, suggesting its potential utility in non-invasive assessment of odontogenic cyst behavior. However, LA alone may not provide additional diagnostic value.