Awareness about Importance of Clinical and Radiological Details for Histopathological Reporting among Practicing Oral Pathologists in Kerala, India

Introduction: Clinical history and examination, radiography and histopathology are the three pillars of accurate diagnosis. The decisive nature of histopathology reporting has made it the cornerstone of modern medical science, thus making it extremely important to render timely and well-elaborated reports with utmost diagnostic accuracy. Inadequate communication between the clinician/surgeon, radiologist and the histopathologist hampers the delivery of correct and complete diagnosis on time.

Aim: To assess the awareness among practicing Oral pathologists from Kerala, India about importance of clinical and radiographic details for histopathological reporting.

Materials and Methods: A population-based, cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted from January 2022 to April 2022. Kerala was divided into four zones-North, South, East and West. An online questionnaire containing eight questions was devised and circulated among 75 practicing Oral Pathologist from each zone through digital messenger platforms or e-mail. Descriptive statistics (frequency and percentage) was calculated using Microsoft excel 2020.

Results: A total of 220 responses were received. Among the participants, 100 (45.5.%) stated that their clinician or surgeon did not provide them with adequate clinical and radiographic details. It was found that 140 (63.6%) participants opined that their clinicians or surgeons used to specify the clinical details and in 188 (85.5%) cases the surgeon or clinician mentioned the demographic data.

Conclusion: It was concluded that there was a good awareness among practicing Oral Pathologists from Kerala, India, regarding the importance of clinical and radiographic details for histopathological reporting.