Morphometric analysis of papillary synovial metaplasia-like changes in oral mucoceles.

BACKGROUND

Oral mucoceles (OMs) are common cystic lesions seen mainly on the lower lip in young males. Histologically, OMs show variegated features such as clear cell changes, myxoglobulosis, calcifications, and papillary synovial metaplasia (PSM)-like changes. The aim of the present paper is to morphometrically analyze PSM-like changes seen in OMs.

METHODOLOGY

Seventy-two cases of histologically proven OMs were retrospectively retrieved and divided into two groups: group I without PSM-like changes and group II with PSM-like changes. The internal area was measured using Image J software. SPSS version 26 was used to analyze the data.

RESULTS

There were 50 cases in group I (mean age 19.23 years) and 22 cases in group II (mean age 30.25 years). The lower lip was the most commonly affected site for both groups. The mean age in group II was significantly higher than group I. In contrast, the mean internal area was significantly higher in group I.

CONCLUSION

We speculate that PSM-like changes in OMs represent an incomplete repair phenomenon. Knowledge of such an innocuous process is essential for differentiation from malignant histopathological mimickers.