To investigate the origin, clinical characteristics, imaging diagnosis and treatment of Stafne bone cavity (SBC) in order to reduce the misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis of the SBC.

Retrospective analysis was made on the clinical manifestations, imaging characteristics and treatment plans of 10 cases of SBC treated in Oral and maxillofacial surgery of the Affiliated Hospital of Qingdao University from February 2018 to October 2022. A total of 10 patients with similar age, location and shape of SBC who had taken CBCT in the same period in the hospital and were confirmed as mandibular apical cysts by pathology were selected with the random number table method. Statistical analysis was done with SPSS 22.0 The HU values of SBC and mandibular apical cysts in cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) were compared at a significance level of 0.05. Finally, combined with a literature search, we summarized the possible causes, clinical diagnosis and treatment plans.

According to the clinical manifestations and imaging results, nine of the 10 patients with Stafne bone cavity were located in the posterior part of the mandibular body, and one was located in the mandibular ramus. None of the 10 patients had pain, swelling, abnormal physiological function and other symptoms, so they did not receive treatment and were closely followed up. The difference of HU value between Stafne bone cavity and mandibular apical cyst was statistically significant [ (HU_SBC = -86 (-113, -78) , HU_{apical cyst} = 19 (-12, 37) , Z = -3.311, P<0.001].

Stafne bone cavity is a relatively rare bone cavity occurring in the mandible. Due to its location and imaging particularity, clinical attention should be paid to it, and the corresponding examination methods should be combined to reduce the occurrence of misdiagnosis and missed diagnosis. The HU value of CBCT can be used as an auxiliary means to identify Stafne bone cavity, which is worthy of clinical promotion.