CONCORDANCE BETWEEN CLINICAL AND HISTOPATHOLOGICAL DIAGNOSIS OF ORAL AND MAXILLOFACIAL LESIONS

Abstract

Introduction: The agreement between clinical and histopathological diagnosis of oral and maxillofacial lesions remains a source of controversy. Objective: To evaluate the concordance between clinical and histopathological diagnosis of oral and maxillofacial lesions. Methods: Socio-demographic and clinical data were prospectively obtained from patients evaluated at outpatient clinics of a Brazilian research hospital. Morphological and histopathological findings of biopsied oral and maxillofacial lesions were utilized as the “gold standard” and the concordance status with prior clinical hypotheses was compared using the Pearson's chi-squared test at a 5% significance level. Results: Non-neoplastic proliferative processes were the most frequent type of lesion (29.6%) and posterior mandible was the most common location (20.73%). Clinical and histological correlation was high (78%), whereas most lesions were not found to be associated with age, gender or concordance status (P > 0.05). Conclusion: A high level of agreement between clinical and histopathological diagnosis was shown, but the quality of oral diagnosis should be continuously evaluated.

Keywords: Oral pathology. Clinical diagnosis. Biopsy.