امیررضا سیار

 Oral lesions can affect people’s quality of life by interfering with chewing, swallowing, and speech. These lesions may originate from epithelial or mesenchymal tissues. Malignant oral lesions can be life-threatening. Epidemiological data of oral lesions in Iran is limited.

 This study aims to investigate the frequency of oral lesions in Rasht, Iran.

 In this cross-sectional study, histopathologic data of oral lesions reported by Razi laboratory in Rasht from 2015 to 2019 were evaluated. The data collected: Patients’ age and sex, histopathologic findings, and location, type and origin of lesions. Non-specific diagnoses and dental and bone lesions were excluded.

 A total of 259 pathologic reports were included. The mean age patients was 52.09±19 years, and 40.2% were male. Oral lesions in patients aged <40 years were mainly benign (64.2%), whereas half of lesions in patients ≥70 years were mostly malignant. Tongue was the most common location of the lesions (34.7%) and the main location for malignant lesions (46.7%). Benign lesions were significantly higher in females whereas malignant lesions were significantly higher in males (P=0.011). Epithelial tissues were the most common site of origin (49%) and salivary glands were the least common site of origin (11.6%) for oral lesions.

 Malignant oral lesions are more common in Iranian men aged >70 years, where the tongue is the most common site of involvement and epithelial tissue is the main site of origin.