CLINICOPATHOLOGICAL STUDY OF ORAL LESIONS IN A TERTIARY CARE HOSPITAL

Background: Oral cavity is a common site for various non-neoplastic and neoplastic lesions. Majority of lesions were neoplastic. Tobacco chewing, smoking and alcohol consumption were the common risk factors implicated in the etiology of malignant oral lesions. Squamous cell carcinoma was the most common lesion of the oral cavity. Aims&Objectives: To study the clinicopathological lesions of the oral cavity with respect to age, gender, location, clinical presentation, histopathological patterns and various risk factors. Materials And Methods: A retrospective study of 274 oral cavity lesions conducted for period of 2 years from January 2019 to December 2020 in the department of pathology, Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. Results: In our study, the age range of the patients was from 3 years to 87 years. Majority of cases were seen in age group of 41- 50 years. Males were more commonly affected than females with a male to female ratio of 2.51:1. Majority of oral lesions were malignant. Squamous cell carcinoma was the most common oral lesion. Tongue was the most common site involved in oral lesions. Mucocele was the commonest non-neoplastic lesion and squamous papilloma was the most common benign lesion. Leucoplakia was the most common premalignant lesion and Squamous cell carcinoma was the commonest malignant lesion. Conclusion: Majority of oral lesions were malignant. Squamous cell carcinoma was the most common oral lesion. Early and accurate identication of potentially malignant oral lesions is important and essential for prevention of morbidity, mortality and for proper treatment of cases. Along with clinical examination and laboratory investigations, histopathological examination is still the gold standard to establish a denitive diagnosis and for conrmation of the nature and origin of oral lesions.