Akut lösemili hastalarin panoramik görüntülerinin fraktal analiz i̇le retrospektif olarak değerlendirilmesi

Balbay, H. Retrospective evaluation of panoramic images of patients with acute leukemia by fractal analysis. Hacettepe University Faculty of Dentistry Programme of Oral and Maxillofacial Radiology, Specialty Thesis, Ankara, 2022. Acute leukemia is a systemic malignancy that can effect bony tissues, in which normal hematopoiesis is disrupted and immature blood cells pass into the circulatory system. Fractal analysis (FA) is a method which mathematically expresses complex structures such as trabecular bone that can not defined by traditional Euclidean geometry with the help of computer softwares. The aim of this study is to analyze the changes in the trabecular structure of the jaw bones caused by acute leukamia, which can lead to extensive osteopenia or patchy lytic lesions, by using the FA method. For that purpose, after the approval of Hacettepe University Ethics Committee of Non-Interventional Clinical Research, the patient group was formed by obtaining the panoramic images of 45 patients with acute leukamia who did not have any medical conditions other than acute leukemia affecting the bony structures, from the radiology archive of Hacettepe University Faculty of Dentistry. For the control group, panoramic images of another 45 patients whom applied for dental treatments and did not have any medical conditions that affect the bony structures were used. For each panoramic view of both the patient and control groups, a total of 4 region of interest (ROI) were determined, two on the anterior region and two posterior region on the mandible. FA was applied to these determined ROIs and the results were compared. Anterior FA values were measured as 1,056 for the patient group and 1,193 for the control group; on the other hand posterior FA values were measured as 0,803 for the patient group and 1,304 for the control group. In comparison with gender, only posterior FA values of women were measured to be significantly lower than men. It was observed that there was no correlation between age/blood values and FA values.