Subjectivity in evaluating oral epithelial dysplasia, carcinoma in situ and initial carcinoma

During the 2nd Meeting of the International Association of Oral Pathologists in Amsterdam (1984), an exercise was held to study subjectivity in evaluating oral epithelial dysplasia. A poster with 9 color photomicrographs was presented to be evaluated anonymously by the participants. A total of 72 submitted diagnostic suggestions. In Table 1 these suggestions are given together with the diagnosis by the authors. A surprisingly wide spectrum of diagnostic suggestions was found indicating the need for an internationally accepted set of criteria for oral epithelial dysplasia.