Frequency of BRAF V600E mutation in a group of Thai patients with ameloblastomas.

OBJECTIVE: BRAF V600E mutation has recently been reported in a high proportion of ameloblastomas. This study was conducted to investigate the frequency of this mutation in ameloblastoma and unicystic ameloblastoma. The correlation between clinicopathologic data and BRAF V600E mutation was also analyzed. STUDY DESIGN: A total of 51 archival samples of ameloblastomas and 22 cases of unicystic ameloblastomas were examined for BRAF V600E mutation by using anti-BRAF V600E (clone VE1) immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Positivity for anti-BRAF V600E antibody was detected in 72.5% (37 of 51) of ameloblastomas, but the mutation showed no significant correlation with the clinicopathologic parameters. With regard to unicystic ameloblastoma, 95.5% (21) of the 22 cases exhibited positive immunostaining for BRAF V600E, whereas only 1 case showed the mural subtype of wild-type BRAF. CONCLUSIONS: A high frequency of BRAF V600E mutation was detected in a group of Thai patients with ameloblastomas, suggesting the future use of BRAF-targeted therapy in patients with BRAF-mutated ameloblastoma. However, no significant association between BRAF V600E mutation and the clinicopathologic characteristics of ameloblastomas was found in our study.

Oral Potentially Malignant Disorders and Squamous Cell Carcinoma at the Tongue: Clinicopathological Analysis in a Thai Population.

OBJECTIVE: Tongue is regarded as one of the common sites of oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC). This study aimed to determine the prevalence and clinicopathological profile of OSCC and oral potentially malignant disorders (OPMDs) at the tongue. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed clinicopathological characteristics of 208 Thai patients diagnosed with SCC and OPMDs at the tongue in the period from 1996 to 2015. Chi-squared test was used to compare differences between patient's clinical and histopathological features. RESULTS: Seventy-eight tongue SCC and 130 tongue OPMD cases were present over the study period. Slight male predominance was found for tongue SCC, while a slight female predominance was present for tongue OPMDs. Both tongue SCC and tongue OPMDs were mostly diagnosed in the old age patients (>40 years old). The majority of tongue SCC and OPMDs occurred at the tip and lateral of the tongue. The most common histologic grading of tongue SCC was well differentiated and no poor differentiation was found in this study. More than a half of tongue OPMDs showed epithelial dysplasia. Both tongue SCC and OPMDs demonstrated no significant correlation between clinical feature and histopathologic diagnosis. CONCLUSIONS: Tongue SCC and OPMDs were particularly found in the elderly population and frequently developed at the tip and lateral of the tongue. Most of tongue OPMDs, particularly all of tongue erythroplakia, exhibited epithelial dysplasia. For dental practitioners, awareness in the early detection and diagnosis of these tongue lesions should be raised.

Qualities of dental chart recording and coding.

Chart recording and coding are the important processes in the healthcare informatics system, but there were only a few reports in the dentistry field. The objectives of this study are to study the qualities of dental chart recording and coding, as well as the achievement of lecture/workshop on this topic. The study was performed by auditing the patient's charts at the TU Dental Student Clinic from July 2011-August 2012. The chart recording mean scores ranged from 51.0-55.7%, whereas the errors in the coding process were presented in the coder part more than the doctor part. The lecture/workshop could improve the scores only in some topics.