Relationship of patient complaints and signs to histopathologic diagnosis of pulpal condition.

The correlation between the histopathologic examination of pulp biopsy specimens and patients' complaints and signs was investigated. The sensitivity, specificity and reliability of each complaint and sign, and the characteristics of pain that are associated with treatable and untreatable pulp states is proposed. Pulp specimens were obtained from teeth that required endodontic treatment. Clinical data were recorded to identify each patient's complaints. The pulp specimens were processed and the histopathologic diagnoses were categorised and correlated with the patients' complaints. Of the 240 cases, 100 (41.7%) were diagnosed as atrophic pulp or pulposis; 4 (1.7%) as acute pulpitis; 64 (26.7%) as transitional stage; 56 (23.3%) as chronic pulpitis, and 16 (6.7%) as acute pulpitis superimposed on a chronic pulpitis. Results showed that previous pain (p < 0.05), spontaneous pain (p < 0.01), and prolonged pain on cold stimuli (p < 0.05), were significantly more frequent in the patients with chronic pulpitis compared to those with pulposis or transitional stage. We concluded that clinicians must consider the sensitivity and specificity of patient complaints and signs in order to perform a diagnosis based upon clinical evidence.