Evaluation of A Fluorescence Screening Method in The Detection of Oral Pre- and Malignant Lesions

Abstract

ObjectiveThe aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the accuracy of VELscope® (VE) and its capacity to assess oraldysplasiaand malignancy compared to histopathological examination.Study DesignA total of 135 patients with 170 suspiciousoral lesionsattending to anoral diagnosisclinic subjected to standard oral examination (OE). Lesions were evaluated with VE, followed by smear and biopsy. The combination of OE and VE diagnoses was assessed and compared to the diagnoses based on thehistopathology.ResultsCompared tohistopathology, the sensitivity of VE was 93.06%, the specificity was 56.12%. The combination of OE and VE findings was significantly correlated with the gold standard, histopathology (Mc Nemar's test, p=1.0). When compared to histopathology, the sensitivity and specificity of OE+VE were 87.5% and 89.8%, respectively, whereas PPV and NPV were 86.3% and 90.72%, respectively.ConclusionsCombination of OE+VE appear to be effective for aiding the diagnosis of potentially malignant lesions.