Evaluation of concordance between clinical and histopathological diagnoses in periapical lesions of endodontic origin

Background/purpose: Periapical lesions of endodontic origin are often diagnosed based on the clinical and radiological presentations that may be different from the histological diagnoses. The purpose of this study was to assess the concordance between the clinical diagnosis of these lesions and the histopathological diagnoses and to analyze their clinical and pathological features. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Biopsies of periapical lesions of endodontic origin diagnosed in the histopathology laboratory between 2006 and 2017 were retrieved from the database and used to conduct this retrospective review. Clinical data were obtained, and tissue samples were re-evaluated. The overall agreement between the clinical and histological diagnoses was tested utilizing the Cohen kappa (k). RESULTS: A total of 317 periapical biopsy specimens were included in this study which consisted of 137 periapical granulomas, 174 periapical cysts, and six periapical scars. Generally there was weak overall agreement between the clinical and histological diagnoses of periapical granuloma and periapical cysts (Cohen kappa, k = 0.059). CONCLUSION: The findings of this study indicate that clinical/radiographic examinations are not able to preoperatively determine whether a periapical lesion is a cyst or a granuloma and highlights the importance of developing a reliable nonsurgical diagnostic method to differentiate periapical lesions.