Correlation between clinical and pathologic diagnoses in mucocutaneous biopsies: A 10-year retrospective study, Kerman, Iran

Mucosal lesions are in several diseases, such as mucocutaneous disorders. Diagnosis of these lesions is based on background/history, clinical features, and histopathological examination. This study aimed to evaluate the correlation between clinical and pathologic diagnoses in mucocutaneous biopsies during a ten-year period.

Based on the existing data, this descriptive, analytical, and retrospective study was carried out on the archives of the pathology departments of School of Dentistry of Kerman University of Medical Sciences and Afzalipour Therapeutic Training Hospital, Kerman, Iran, during March 2008-March 2018. Data were collected using a checklist including the clinical and histopathologic diagnoses of mucosal skin lesionsand patients’ demographic characteristics, and were analyzed in SPSS software.

In this study, 650 cases of skin lesions were detected with a conclusive microscopic diagnosis. The lichen planus (LP) with 346 cases (53.23%) and discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE) with 138 cases (23.23%) were the most common lesions, whereas the least cases were related to psoriasis (0.03%). Moreover, buccal mucosa was the most frequent location of lesions, and the prevalence of lesions was significantly higher in female patients, compared to male patients. Furthermore, the most conformity between clinical and histopathologic diagnoses was related to LP. In this regard, the Kappa coefficient as the rate of overall conformity with the histopathologic diagnosis was estimated at 0.542.

The conformity between the clinical and the histopathologic diagnoses was within the acceptable range. However, it is recommended that the accurate clinical information of patients be completed to make the correct diagnosis.