A rare case of gingival plasma cell granuloma of the gingiva masquerading as a gingival epulis

Abstract

Plasma cell granuloma is a non-neoplastic lesion rather uncommonly seen in the maxillofacial region. Its
etiology, biological behavior, ideal treatment and prognosis are still unclear and rather controversial. A
rare case of this lesion affecting the gingiva is presented here, which could easily have been mistaken for a
pyogenic granuloma, a peripheral giant sell reparative granuloma or a fibrous gingival epulis, had it not
been for a detailed histological and Immunohistochemical study conducted on this lesion.
Histopathological examination of the excised specimen revealed a proliferation of inflammatory cells,
among which there was a typical predominance of plasma cells with the typical cartwheel shaped nuclei,
set in a fibrovascular connective tissue stroma. Immunohistochemistry was employed for confirmatory
diagnosis, and characteristically demonstrated the lambda and kappa light chains as seen in the polyclonal
plasma cell population.