Paediatric oral and maxillofacial biopsies: A retrospective institutional archival study

This is a retrospective cross-sectional study of oral and maxillofacial biopsies in paediatric population, up to 16 years of age from 1991 to 2021. This study aimed to investigate the frequency, demographic and clinicopathological characteristics of paediatric biopsies according to the diagnosis categories of the main tertiary centre in Malaysia.

A total of 17294 histopathological reports from Diagnostic Oral Pathology Unit between 1991 and 2021 were retrieved. One thousand eleven histopathological reports that fulfilled the inclusion and exclusion criteria were included. Information of interest was extracted from histopathological reports. The lesions were categorised into 10 diagnosis categories. Descriptive and correlation analysis were performed.

Paediatric oral and maxillofacial biopsies accounted for 5.9% of the total biopsies received. The peak incidence of diagnosis was in age range of 12 to 16 years old and mean age of 11.6 years old (±3.5), with female preponderance. The most common category of diagnosis was salivary gland pathology with mucocele (30%) being the most frequently diagnosed lesions. Lip and labial mucosa were the commonest site of occurrence. Specimen sizes smaller than 1 cm were the most common specimen diameter with mean size of 1.6 cm (±1.5). Age, site of occurrence and specimen size were statistically significant (P < 0.05) with paediatric oral and maxillofacial biopsies.

This is a large-scale study of paediatric oral and maxillofacial biopsies of a tertiary centre over three decades. We hope this data is useful for chairside assessment and aids in diagnosis making.