Treatment of oral lichen planus with photodynamic therapy mediated methylene blue: a case report

Abstract

Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a common chronic disease of uncertain origin. Many patients with OLP are refractory to all available therapies. The photodynamic therapy (PDT) was used as a possible alternative method in the treatment of lichen planus. Two patients with five oral lichen planus lesions were treated using topical PDT mediated by methylene blue (MB-PDT). The patients were followed up on sessions 3, 7, 15 days and 1 to 9 months after PDT. Clinical improvement was achieved in four lesions. Two lesions showed complete remission, and another two lesions had about 50% clinically improvement 3-9 months after a single session of PDT. No response detected in one lesion. MB-PDT blue seems to be an effective alternative treatment for control of OLP. In our opinion, this preliminary result warrant further studies in order to show the efficacy of MB-PDT in control of OLP for a longer period of time.