A clinicopathological study of oral soft tissue tumors in 62 Thai patients R. Worawongvasu

Mahidol Dental Journal Thai 2007: 27(2): 67–74 The purpose of this study was to determine the clinicopathological features of oral soft tissue tumors in Thai patients. This was a retrospective study of oral soft tissue tumors in the biopsy records of the Department of Oral Pathology, Faculty of Dentistry, Mahidol University from 1973 to 2001. A total of 3,887 biopsy specimens were received for histopathologic diagnoses during that period. There were 62 Thai patients with oral soft tissue tumors. Oral soft tissue tumours were rare in the oral cavity and lipoma was the most common histologic type (27.4%), followed by haemangioma (20.9%), lymphangioma (8.1%), and neurofibromas (8.1%). Clinically, most of the tumors were painless (66.1%) and presented as masses (87.1%) 1 cm or larger in greatest diameter (51.6%). Most occurred in teenage and young adults (35.5%) followed by middle-aged adults (32.3%). The most common location was gingiva (33.9%), followed by tongue (16.1%) and buccal mucosa (14.5%). They were frequently misdiagnosed clinically as fibroma (70.8%), followed by mucoceles (12.5%) and pyogenic granulomas (8.3%), respectively. Conclusion: Oral soft tissue tumors are rare in the oral cavity and lipoma is the most common histological type. Clinically, most presented as painless mass of 1 cm or larger in diameter.

THONGCHAI NUNTANARANONT