Artefacts in oral incisional biopsies in general dental practice: a pathology audit.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the artefacts in oral biopsies taken by general dental practitioners (GDP) and oral and maxillofacial surgeons (O&MF) and to assess the concordance of clinical and pathological diagnoses.


METHODS
Cross-sectional investigation.


METHODS
Primary care and hospital practice.


METHODS
A total of 354 randomly selected oral biopsy samples studied by the same pathologist.


METHODS
Clinical and pathological diagnoses - prevalence and location of surgical handling artefacts: crush, splits, haemorrhage and fragmentation.


RESULTS
Artefacts identified in GDPs biopsies: crush 27.1%; haemorrhage 19.8%; splits 11.3%; and fragmentation 6.2%. O&MSs biopsies showed: crush 10.2%; splits 13%; fragmentation 2.3%; and haemorrhage 8.5%. No differences in split or fragmentation were identified between GDPs and O&MSs. Crush (chi2 = 16.76; P = 0.000) and haemorrhage (chi2 = 9.31; P = 0.003) were more frequently identified in GDPs biopsies. Concordance between clinical and pathological diagnoses was excellent ( > 0.75) for both groups in all disorders considered.


CONCLUSIONS
The elicited clinical knowledge, the quality of the samples sent to the pathologists seem to suggest the advisability for the GDPs to perform diagnostic biopsies.
Seoane
J
J
Stomatology Department, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. jseoanel@usc.es
Varela-Centelles
P I
PI
Ramírez
J R
JR
Cameselle-Teijeiro
J
J
Romero
M A
MA
D016477:Artifacts; D001706:Biopsy; D016009:Chi-Square Distribution; D019230:Dental Audit; D005792:General Practice, Dental; D006801:Humans; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000473:pathology; D009062:Mouth Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D015588:Observer Variation; D013515:Surgery, Oral