Evaluation of histopathologic reports of oral mucosal biopsy in Razi laboratory, Rasht, North of Iran, 2015-2020

Background: Oral lesions can affect people’s quality of life by impairment of chewing, swallowing and speech. These lesions may originate from epithelial or mesenchymal tissues. Malignant oral lesions could be life-threatening. Epidemiological data about oral lesions in our country is limited. Objective: This study was conducted to investigate the frequency of histopathologic features of oral mucosal lesions to increase our information about these lesions. Methods: In this cross-sectional study, histopathologic reports of oral mucosal lesions were evaluated in Razi laboratory, Rasht, from 2015 to 2020. Following data were collected: age, sex, histopathologic findings, location, type and origin of lesions. Non-specific diagnoses, dental and bone lesions were excluded. Results: A total of 259 pathology reports were included. The mean age of the patients was 52.09 ± 19.00 years, and 40.2% were male. Oral lesions in patients aged less than 40 years were mainly benign (64.2%), whereas lesions in patients older than 70 years were mostly malignant. Tongue was the most common location of the lesions (34.7%) and it was also the main location for malignancies (46.7%). Benign lesions were significantly more common in women whereas malignant lesions showed a significant higher frequency in men (P=0.011). Epithelial tissues were the most common site (49%) and salivary glands were the least common site of origin (11.6%) for oral lesions. Conclusion: Malignant oral lesions were more common in men aged more than 70 years, with the tongue as the most common site of involvement and epithelial tissue as the main site of origin.