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Oral hairy leukoplakia: Clinical aspects, histologic morphology and differential diagnosis
Author(s) -
Ficarra Giuseppe,
Gaglioti Domenico,
Di Pietro Massimo,
AdlerStorthz Karen
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
head and neck
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.012
H-Index - 127
eISSN - 1097-0347
pISSN - 1043-3074
DOI - 10.1002/hed.2880130607
Subject(s) - leukoplakia , tongue , medicine , differential diagnosis , pathology , acanthosis , oral lichen planus , dermatology , hyperkeratosis , cancer
Clinical and histologic morphology of oral hairy leukoplakia in 85 HIV‐positive patients were studied. Differential diagnosis of oral hairy leukoplakia in comparison with the normal lingual and buccal epithelium from both HIV‐positive and HIV‐negative patients, and with other tongue conditions was also examined. Oral hairy leukoplakia lesions were located on the lateral borders of the tongue and showed a corrugated/hairy aspect in the majority of cases. Hyperparakeratosis, hyperplasia/acanthosis, and a papillated epithelial surface were common findings. A parakeratin band and ballooning cells were present in 60% and 99% of the cases, respectively. Some of the histologic features of oral hairy leukoplakia were present in the normal lingual epithelium of both HIV‐negative and HIV‐positive patients as well as in other tongue conditions. Thus, many histologic features of oral hairy leukoplakia appear not to be specific.