Diagnostic concordance between incisional biopsies and final excision specimens in maxillofacial Lesions: a 14-Year retrospective study.

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the concordance between the histopathological diagnoses obtained from biopsies of maxillofacial lesions and the definitive histopathological diagnoses of the excised specimens, and to identify factors associated with diagnostic discordance. Materials and Methods: A retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted on 203 patients with maxillofacial lesions who underwent surgical excision following biopsy between 2005 and 2019. Sociodemographic, clinical, and histopathological data were collected and analyzed. Biopsy diagnoses were compared with the final excision diagnoses using Cohen's kappa coefficient and appropriate statistical tests. Results: The histopathological diagnosis of the excised specimen was consistent with the biopsy diagnosis in 87.8% of cases (p = 0.001). No significant differences were found between biopsy and excision diagnoses when the biopsy was performed by a specialist or a resident (p = 0.29), or when the histopathological evaluation was conducted by a resident or a specialist pathologist (p = 0.59). Likewise, no significant differences were observed according to whether the biopsy specimen consisted of a single fragment or multiple fragments (p = 0.65). Conclusion: Careful identification and management of factors contributing to diagnostic discordance may improve the reliability of biopsy diagnoses and consequently enhance patient management.