Esophageal changes in oral submucous fibrosis using fiber-optic endoscopy

The aim of this study was to determine the extent of esophageal involvement and the association between the clinical and functional stages of oral submucous fibrosis and esophageal changes in oral submucous fibrosis patients.

Thirty of 35 biopsied patients with proven oral submucous fibrosis, and 20 patients with no evidence of disease, underwent upper gastrointestinal endoscopy. Biopsies were taken from upper third, middle third, and lower third of the esophagus and sent for histopathological evaluation. The esophageal changes in the clinical and functional stages were studied both endoscopically and histopathologically.

We found that most patients had blanching in clinical stage 2, functional stage B, and functional stage C. In most patients, blanching was found in the upper third of the esophagus, followed by the middle third and lower third. Fibrosis in the middle third of the esophagus was found in most patients.

The present study concludes that oral submucous fibrosis is not only confined to the oral cavity, but also extends to the esophagus. We found that there is an inverse relationship between the opening of the mouth and esophageal involvement.