Department of Surgical Sciences, Oral Medicine Section, CIR-Dental School, University of Turin, Italy.
Department of Surgical Sciences, Oral Medicine Section, CIR-Dental School, University of Turin, Italy.
J Photochem Photobiol B. 2020 Oct;211:112009. doi: 10.1016/j.jphotobiol.2020.112009. Epub 2020 Aug 24.
Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a common premalignant chronic inflammatory disorder. Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) provides a real-time, non-invasive, and in-situ optical signature using light of varying wavelengths to examine tissue. Aim of the present study was to assess the possible role of OCT as diagnostic tool for atrophic-erosive OLP by examining OCT scans of healthy buccal mucosa, and comparing their ultrastructural features with those of a buccal mucosa affected by atrophic-erosive OLP, using their histopathological counterparts as the gold standard. Through grayscale (enface scan) and an application in which the vascularization of the tissue is visible (dynamic scan), it was possible to distinguish the healthy from the lichenoid pattern from 20 controls (12 M; 8 F; mean age: 41.32 years) and 20 patients with histologically confirmed atrophic-erosive OLP (7 M; 13 F; mean age: 64.27 years). In detail, mean width of stratified squamous epithelium (EP) and lamina propria (LP) were evaluated. Among controls, EP and LP showed a mean width of 300 (±50) and of 600 (±50) μm respectively; among cases, disruption of membrane basement prevented from any measurement. Furthermore, a differential pattern of EP and LP emerged between the two groups: a light-grayish, hypo-reflective, homogeneous area of EP recurring in controls turned into a hyper-reflective, non-homogeneous area among cases. Dynamic scan showed a differential profile of LP vascularization, varying from a hypo-reflective red area with small blood vessels in the control group, to a hypo/hyper-reflective area, completely overrun by a denser, wider blood flow amid OLP cases. Although histopathological examination remains the gold standard for OLP diagnosis, OCT could be a potentially helpful tool for the clinician and the pathologist, since it allows analysis of the vascularization of the sample without adversely affecting histological processing.
口腔扁平苔藓（OLP）是一种常见的癌前慢性炎症性疾病。光学相干断层扫描（OCT）使用不同波长的光提供实时、非侵入性和原位光学特征，以检查组织。本研究的目的是通过检查健康颊黏膜的 OCT 扫描，并将其超微结构特征与患有萎缩性糜烂性 OLP 的颊黏膜进行比较，使用其组织病理学对应物作为金标准，来评估 OCT 作为萎缩性糜烂性 OLP 诊断工具的可能作用。通过灰度（表面扫描）和应用组织血管化可见的应用程序（动态扫描），可以将 20 名对照者（12 名男性；8 名女性；平均年龄：41.32 岁）和 20 名经组织学证实患有萎缩性糜烂性 OLP 的患者（7 名男性；13 名女性；平均年龄：64.27 岁）中的健康与苔藓样模式区分开来。详细地，评估了分层鳞状上皮（EP）和固有层（LP）的平均宽度。在对照组中，EP 和 LP 的平均宽度分别为 300（±50）和 600（±50）μm；在病例中，膜基底的破坏阻止了任何测量。此外，两组之间出现了 EP 和 LP 的不同模式：在对照组中，EP 出现浅灰色、低反射、均匀的区域，而在病例中则变成高反射、不均匀的区域。动态扫描显示 LP 血管化的差异模式，从对照组中具有小血管的低反射红色区域变为 OLP 病例中完全被更密集、更宽的血流覆盖的低/高反射区域。尽管组织病理学检查仍然是 OLP 诊断的金标准，但 OCT 可能是临床医生和病理学家的一种潜在有用的工具，因为它允许在不影响组织学处理的情况下分析样本的血管化。
