title: Plasma fibrinogen degradation products in betel nut chewers - with and without oral submucous fibrosis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Oral submucous fibrosis (OSMF) has a multifactorial etiology. Recent studies have shown that there is an increased level of fibrinogen degradation products (FDP) in plasma of OSMF patients suggesting its possible role in etiopathogenesis of OSMF.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To detect the presence of FDP in the plasma of betel nut chewers with and without OSMF and in normal subjects without any habits, to correlate these levels with respect to the clinical and histological grading of OSMF and whether it can be used as a nonsurgical diagnostic aid in detection of suspected OSMF cases.
  
  
  METHODS
  Study comprised of 35 cases of betel nut chewers with OSMF, 10 patients with betel nut chewing habit but having apparently normal oral mucosa, and 10 normal patients without any habits. The patients were evaluated for plasma FDP levels.
  
  
  RESULTS
  All the betel nut chewers with OSMF showed the presence of plasma FDP. However, controls and subjects with habit, but without OSMF did not show FDP in the plasma. Spearman's rank correlation was used to find the association between the clinical and histological grades and it was not statistically significant (P = 0.910) and the correlation being 0.020.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Since only those patients with OSMF have showed the presence of FDP in plasma, we suggest that our test can be utilized as a nonsurgical diagnostic aid in suspected OSMF patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Government Dental College and Hospital, Hyderabad, India.
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Kiran
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Sri Venkata Sai Institute of Dental Sciences, Mahabubnagar, Andhra Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Ms
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Muni Sekhar
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Navodaya Dental College and Hospital, Raichur, Karnataka, India.
authors.forename: Santosh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hunasgi
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Sri Sai College of Dental Surgery, Vikarabad, Andhra Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Syed Afroz
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Ahmed
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Sri Sai College of Dental Surgery, Vikarabad, Andhra Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: Charu
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Suri
authors.affiliation: Department of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology, Sri Venkata Sai Institute of Dental Sciences, Mahabubnagar, Andhra Pradesh, India.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Krishna
keywords: Fibrin; fibrinogen degradation products; oral submucous fibrosis