Correlation between clinical and histopathologic diagnoses of potentially malignant oral lesions

BACKGROUND: The serious nature of potentially malignant oral lesions (PMOL) demands that the final diagnosis be made on both clinical and histopathologic grounds. The aim of the present study was to determine the correlation between clinical and histopathologic diagnoses of PMOL using a discrepancy index (DI). METHODS: Fifty-one patients with PMOL were examined clinically, and a biopsy was taken from each one. The results of histopathologic diagnosis were compared with the clinical diagnosis. We established that the histopathologic diagnosis was incompatible when the clinical diagnosis was not confirmed. On the basis of the incompatible diagnosis, we calculated a discrepancy index between the clinical and histopathologic diagnosis. RESULTS: Clinically, the homogeneous leukoplakia was the most frequent lesion followed by erosive lichen planus and reticular lichen planus. No cases of erythroplakia were observed. Lesions were most frequently seen at the buccal mucosa, followed by the gingiva (alveolar mucosa) and tongue. The histopathologic diagnosis showed that the majority of the lesions were benign keratoses followed by lichen planus. Three cases of epithelial dysplasia were mild. The DI between clinical and histopathologic diagnosis was 17.6 %. The higher DI was found in erosive lichen planus. CONCLUSION: The obtained findings show that in 90% of leukoplakias, clinical diagnosis was confirmed by histopathologic examination. The discrepancy between clinical and histopathologic diagnoses in 17.6 % of cases suggests that all PMOLs should be submitted to histological analysis