HISTOPATHOLOGICAL ASSESSMENT OF ORAL LEUKOPLAKIA AMONG SNUFF USERS AND NON-USERS

Objectives: To assess histopathological characteristics of oral leukoplakia among snuff users and non-users. Material and methods: The descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted at different hospitals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The study consisted of 60 cases of oral leukoplakia of which 30 were snuff users and 30 were non-users and histopathological features were assessed in both groups. SPSS 20 was used for the evaluation and analysis of the data. Results: The observed mean age of the cases was 50.3 years. In snuff users, the mean age was 56.97 (SD+14.71) while in non-users the mean age was 47.43 (SD+13.44). In snuff users, dysplasia 9/30 (30%) was the most common histopathological feature. The relationship between dysplasia in snuff users and non-users was found to be statistically significant with a p-value of 0.04. Conclusion: It is concluded from the present study that oral leukoplakia showed a wide range of histopathological features and these variants exist even among snuff users however the cases of dysplasia are high in snuff users than non-users which shows a greater potential for conversion of oral leukoplakia into malignancy in snuff users. Keywords: Oral leukoplakia, Dysplasia, Hyperplasia, Hyperkeratosis