Oral cavity & oropharynx
Potentially malignant & dysplasia
Smokeless tobacco keratosis
Author: Charu Thakral, M.D.
Last author update: 1 March 2013
Last staff update: 23 August 2022
Copyright: 2002-2024, PathologyOutlines.com, Inc.
PubMed Search: Smokeless tobacco keratosis
Table of Contents
Definition / general | Gross description | Microscopic (histologic) description | Differential diagnosisCite this page: Thakral C. Smokeless tobacco keratosis. PathologyOutlines.com website. https://www.pathologyoutlines.com/topic/oralcavitysmokelesstobacco.html. Accessed December 25th, 2024.
Definition / general
- Occurs in users of smokeless tobacco (snuff) or tobacco chewers
- Severity related to length of exposure and tobacco brand
- Reversible with cessation of use (Arch Pathol Lab Med 2004;128:e17)
Gross description
- Filmy, gray-white opalescence at areas of contact with tobacco
Microscopic (histologic) description
- Parakeratosis or hyperorthokeratosis with parakeratin spires ("chevrons"), acanthosis, mild chronic inflammation and PAS+ marked hyalin deposition resembling amyloid
Differential diagnosis
- Hyalinosis cutis et mucosae:
- Deposition begins around vessels, eccrine glands and epithelial-stromal interface, then fills entire dermis of all oral mucosa, tongue, pharynx, larynx and vocal cords
