EXFOLIATIVE CYTOLOGICAL FINDINGS IN ORAL POTENTIALLY MALIGNANT DISORDERSMALIGNANT DISORDERS

Abstract

Objective: Patients with oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs) are at risk for development of malignancy and tobacco use contributes in its transformation. This study was designed to assess exfoliative cytological findings in OPMD cases using tobacco and healthy controls with no history of tobacco use. The aim was to screen OPMD cases for biopsy with the help of brush cytology.

Materials and Methods: This comparative cross-sectional study was conducted at Histopathology Laboratory of Peshawar Medical College, Peshawar for which samples were collected from two dental hospitals and private dental clinics of Peshawar. The study included 20 cases of clinically diagnosed Oral Potentially Malignant Disorders (OPMDs) with history of tobacco use; including 10 cases of leukoplakia and 10 cases of oral lichen planus (OLP), and 20 age and gender matched healthy controls with no history of tobacco use, after observing a strict inclusion and exclusion criteria. A pre-designed proforma was used to collect the data, which was later analyzed in SPSS version 21.

Results:  A total of 40 participants had a mean age of 48.25±10.01 years with gender distribution of 32(80%) males and 8(20%) females, giving a male to female ratio of 4:1. The duration of tobacco use in cases had a mean of 22.95 ± 9.17 years, while duration of lesion had a mean of 2.3±4.4 years. As per Oral Bethesda Criteria, 18 (90%) OPMD cases were Negative for Intraepithelial Lesion/Malignancy (NILM). Buccal mucosa 12(60%) was the most common site of lesions. On Oral Exfoliative Cytology (OEC), OPMDs showed mild to moderate cytological changes as compared to healthy controls.

Conclusion: This study concluded that most of the OPMD cases show mild to moderate cytological changes as compared to healthy controls. Dysplastic changes were seen only in 10% of OPMD cases that needed further assessment through biopsy.