The Spectrum of Oral Pathology Specimens: a Retrospective Study of 442 Specimens and a Review of Literature
Abstract Background: Diseases of the oral cavity are heterogenous in etiology, pathogenesis, histogenesis and clinical outcome. Several epidemiologic studies exist in the literature with variable and conflicting results, based on small sized-samples and geographic factors. The aim of this study is to examine the frequency of oral diseases encountered in our experience from a tertiary hospital and to compare it with previous studies.Methods: The archives of pathology at Jordan University Hospital were retrospectively searched for specimens of oral cavity and related structures anatomic areas between 2013-2020. Fisher’s exact test was performed to examine the statistical difference between the pathologic diagnosis and clinical variables of age, gender and site of specimen. One-way ANOVA test was applied to analyzed the differences in the mean of age among different pathologic groups. P-value of less than 0.05 was considered significant.Results: A total of four-hundred forty-one cases were retrieved. There were 232 (52%) females and 210 (48%) males. The range of age was 3-87 years (mean 43), 46 (10%) of which were children younger than 16 years. Inflammatory and reactive diseases were the most common, constituting 147 (33%) of all specimens, followed by benign neoplasms: 139 (31%), cysts: 114 (26%) then malignant diseases: 42 (10%). Lichen planus was the most common inflammatory disease: 26/147 (18%) and prevailed in patients older than 40 years (P = 00039). Keratocyst predominated in children and adolescents more than in adults (P = 0.0015). Buccal mucosa represented the most frequent site for biopsy: 76 (17%), followed by tongue and maxillary bone: 70 (16%), each. Conclusion: Inflammatory and benign neoplasms are the most common lesions in oral diseases. Oral malignancy appears to show a low to intermediate frequency compared to previous reports. The study provides a general overview of the spectrum of oral pathology specimens and points to some novel epidemiologic findings that suggests further investigations.