RT Journal Article
T1 Use of the fractal dimension to differentiate epithelium and connective tissue in oral leukoplakias
A1 Guerrero Sánchez, Yolanda
A1 Gómez García, Francisco
A1 Chamorro Petronacci, Cintia Micaela
A1 Suárez Peñaranda, José Manuel
A1 Pérez-Sayáns García, Mario
K1 Oral leukoplakia
K1 Oral cancer
K1 Fractal dimension
AB Background: Oral leukoplakia (OL) is considered one of the most common potentially malignant oral disorders (OPMD), with a verified increased risk of developing oral cancer. The identification of the dysplasia grade (low–high) is the only consolidated factor used to evaluate this risk. The objective of this study was to verify the role of the fractal dimension (FD) in assessing this dysplasia. Methods: To begin, 29 OL and 10 normal oral mucosa (NOM) biopsies were retrieved for FD analysis of the epithelial (dime) and the connective (dimc) tissue. Results: In the OL group, the median value of dime is higher (1.67, IQR = 0.12) than for the NOM group (1.56, IQR = 0.08), with statistically significant differences (Wilcoxon test, p = 0.0031). There were no differences in relation to dimc. Significant differences were observed between the non-dysplasia vs. high-grade (p = 0.0156) and low-grade vs. high-grade (p = 0.0049) groups. No significant differences were identified in relation to dimc for the different degrees of dysplasia. For a cut-off point of 1.44 of dime, a specificity of 96.6% was obtained, a sensitivity of 100%, and an AUC = 0.819 (p = 0.003). Conclusions: FD at the level of the epithelium may be used as a diagnostic tool in OL
PB MDPI
SN 2072-6694
YR 2022
FD 2022
LK http://hdl.handle.net/10347/30151
UL http://hdl.handle.net/10347/30151
LA eng
NO Cancers 2022, 14(11), 2697; https://doi.org/10.3390/cancers14112697
NO This research was funded by Santiago de Compostela University
DS Minerva
RD 3 may 2026