Accuracy of oral exfoliative cytology in Sudanese patients undergoing oral biopsy

Resumo

Introduction: Early detection of a premalignant or malignant oral
lesions promises to improve the survival and the morbidity of patients
suffering from these conditions. Oral exfoliative cytology (OEC) is
a non-invasive method that is well accepted by the patient, and is
therefore, suitable for screening at-risk population for early diagnosis
of oral cancer. Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate
the value of OEC in the detection of oral premalignant and malignant
lesions. Material and methods: In this hospital-based case-control
study, cytological scrapes from buccal mucosa were obtained from 100
individuals, of whom 50 were patients with oral lesions ascertained
as “cases” and 50 were clinically healthy volunteers ascertained
as “controls”. All patients with oral lesions were also subjected to
oral biopsy and histological examination. Results: Out of 50 cases
studied, histopathology showed the presence of: Oral squamous cell
carcinoma OSCC (n = 28), leukoplakia (n = 8), dysplasia (n = 3),
and benign normal lesions (n = 11). In cytology, a specificity of 100%,
sensitivity of 93% and accuracy of 92% were obtained for OSCC.
Leukoplakia gave a specificity of 100%, a sensitivity of 87.5%, and an
accuracy of 95%. Conclusion: Despite the small number of cases in
this study, OEC is a useful method for detecting oral premalignant
and malignant lesions. OEC can detect a number of pathological
conditions that require management.