Correlation between clinical and histopathologic findings 0f oral lesions

Introduction: Achieving the right differential diagnosis is the most important and most difficult step for proper treatment and the realization of the best long-term prognosis. Several types of oral lesions with similar appearance demands that the final diagnosis be made on both clinical and histopathologic grounds. The objective of the study was to evaluate the agreement between clinical and histopathological diagnosis in Qazvin dental school. Materials and methods: In this cross-sectional (descriptive - analytical) andretrospective study, 488 cases in the Archives of Pathology Laboratory of Qazvin Dental School over the years 2007-2012 were studied. Clinical data including age, sex, and lesion location; clinical diagnosis, histopathological characteristics and physician specialty were recorded in a custom questionnaire. All the data were analyzed using Chi-Square test. Statistical significance was set at a p value of <.05. Results: From 488 reviewed cases, 141 cases due to lack of diagnosis and 23 cases due to inadequate biopsy were excluded. Soft tissue lesions with 33.6% had the most frequency followed by dermatologic diseases. 69.1% of clinical diagnosis was consistent with histopathologic diagnosis. There was a significant correlation in consistent of clinical diagnosis and histopathologic diagnosis with lesion type and physicians specialty (P<0.05).Conclusion: Our findings showed that in 69.1% of oral lesions, clinical diagnosis was confirmed by histopathologic examination. The discrepancy between clinical and histopathologic diagnoses in 30.9% of cases suggests that all oral lesions(specially odontogenic lesions) should be submitted to histological analysis.

Keywords:

Compliance , clinical diagnosis , histopathological diagnosis