The relevance of uniform reporting in oral leukoplakia: Definition, certainty factor and staging based on experience with 275 patients

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the definition of oral leukoplakia, proposed by the WHO in 2005 and taking into account a previously reported classification and staging system, including the use of a Certainty factor of four levels with which the diagnosis of leukoplakia can be established. In the period 1997-2012 a hospital-based population of 275 consecutive patients with a provisional diagnosis of oral leukoplakia has been examined. In only 176 patients of these 275 patients a firm diagnosis of leukoplakia has been established based on strict clinicopathological criteria. The 176 patients have subsequently been staged using a classification and staging system based on size a…