Oral Submucous Fibrosis – A Clinicopathological Correlation

Objective: Oral Submucous Fibrosis (OSMF) is a potentially malignant disorder of the oral mucosa and collagen metabolic disorder caused by betel nut use. Diagnosis of this condition can be made clinically, but ascertaining its malignant transformation histopathology is mandatory. So, the correlation between the clinical and histopathology was conducted.

Materials and Methods: The correlation study was conducted on 20 OSMF patients. Clinical diagnosis with histopathological confirmation was based on the standard approach. Study structure included gender, duration, frequency, and quid placement correlated with clinical and histopathological staging.

Results: The current study has included most of the subjects being males and was below 25 years. Habit duration, frequency, and quid placement were correlated with clinical and histopathological staging and were directly related. Six subjects of (30%) Group 1 cases associated with 3 (42.9%) in the histologically early stage of the disease. Further, 14 (70%) cases in Group 2 clinical staging correlated with 8 (88.9%) cases in moderately advanced histological staging.

Conclusion: The clinical and histopathological correlation was not obtained in the present study. The negative p-value could be because of certain factors like biopsy site selection and decreased study subjects. However, factors like frequency and quid keeping had a positive histopathological correlation.