Oral lesions in patients with lichen planus

Abstract

Forty patients with lichen planus admitted to University Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Sestre milosrdnice University Hospital in Zagreb during the 2004-2006 period were assigned to this retrospective study. In these 40 patients (27 female and 13 male), lichen planus was diagnosed on the basis of clinical presentation, laboratory findings and histopathologic analysis. The results obtained indicated an increased prevalence of lichen planus in middle-aged patients (40% of patients were aged 40-60), with a significant female predominance (67.5% vs. 32.5%). The majority of patients with lichen planus presented with both cutaneous and oral lesions (62.5%), one third of cases had only cutaneous lesions (35%), and only one patient had isolated oral lesions (2.5%). The initial symptoms in patients with lichen planus usually manifested on the skin (82.5%), in oral cavity (5%), or both simultaneously. Oral lesions usually developed on buccal mucosa (88.5%) in the form of Wickham's striae. All patients were administered topical therapy (corticosteroids, keratolytics), while 55% of patients were given both systemic and topical therapy (corticosteroids, retinoids). Phototherapy was used in 27.5% of patients. The management of patients with oral lichen planus lesions requires multidisciplinary approach including dermatologists and oral pathologists, general practitioners, as well as ENT specialists, internal medicine specialists, and others.