Twenty patients with multiple oral leukoplakia were clinicopathologically studied. The relations among recurrence, malignant transformation and site, clinical appearance, epithelial dysplasia, and method of treatment were assessed.
The numbers of men and women were similar. The age of the patients ranged from 43 to 82 years. The most common type of multiple oral leukoplakia was characterized by white spots on the gingiva. Epithelial dysplasia was associated with all types of clinical appearance. As for the treatment procedure, 39 of 51 cases (76.5%) underwent vaporization by laser surgery.
The rate of recurrence was 31.3%. The most frequent site and clinical appearance n patients with multiple oral leukoplakia were the palatal mucosa and erythroleukoplakia type, respectively. Recurrence of multiple oral leukoplakia was suggested to be related to clinical appearance and the treatment procedure, although there was no relation between recurrence and epithelial dysplasia. Patients treated by cryosurgery had the highest rate of recurrence.
Malignant transformation occurred in 2 of the 51 patients (3.9%), and the average time until relapse was 7 years 5 months. The clinical appearance was white-spotted type in both patients, and the site was the buccal mucosa and the gingiva, respectively. Mild and moderate dysplasia were pathologically confirmed in these patients.