Cytomorphometric Analysis of Basal Cells: An Objective Mean for the Diagnosis of Oral leukoplakia and Oral Submucous Fibrosis.

The histopathological diagnosis of Oral leukoplakia (OL) and Oral Submucous Fibrosis (OSMF) is based on the subjective evaluation of morphological anomalies within the lesional tissue. Interpretation of dysplasia varies from one pathologist to another. This subjectivity has turned the interest toward applying computerassisted morphometry to investigate the cellular and nuclear changes in correlation with the histological behaviour of the lesions. To measure the cellular area (CA) and nuclear area (NA) in OL, OSMF and Normal Oral Mucosa (NOM). 2.To measure the nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio (NCR) in basal layer of OL, OSMF and NOM. 3.To compare and correlate the measurements in OL, OSMF and NOM. 45 cases were included in the study with 20 cases of OL, 20 cases of OSMF and 5 cases of NOM. Basal cells were subjected to Morphometric analysis with image analyser software. The cellular and nuclear area were measured and the nuclear-cytoplasmic ratio was calculated in ten fields. Measurements were tabulated and subjected to statistical analysis. The CA & NA in OL, OSMF are larger compared to NOM with a significant P value of 0.015 and 0.40. The Post Hoc Analysis showed a significant difference of 0.023 between CA of OL and OSMF and a significant value of 0.005 between OSMF and NOM. NCR is increased in OL and OSMF when compared to NOM with a significant P value of 0.009 and Post Hoc analysis revealed significant difference of 0.008 between OL & OSMF and between OSMF and NOM. The significant values obtained in the results suggest that histomorphometry can allow objective information to be acquired and can discriminate between the lesions when the diagnosis is ambiguous.