Key points:
  1. Leukoplakia is an anatomical term for thick white or grey patches that can be associated with a variety of histological diagnoses ranging from hyperplasia to malignant transformation.
  2. According to our findings, malignancy is associated with a single abnormal vascular pattern on the surface of the vocal cords, whereas leukoplakia might be associated with either normal or many abnormal vascular patterns.
  3. Capillaries in the surface lamina propria, smaller arteries and veins characterize the vascular microanatomy of human vocal folds.
  4. Age may be related to the development of this disease.
  5. Two inherent limitations of CE are the inability to detect very early dysplasia and the inability of differentiation of carcinoma in situ from invasive carcinoma.