Clinical Features and Histopathological Analysis of Oral Lichen Planus: An Analysis of 105 Chinese Patients

Abstract

Purpose: To study the clinical and pathological characteristics of oral lichen planus (OLP) in a large sample.

Materials and methods: A comprehensive analysis was conducted on 105 patients with oral lichen planus (OLP), considering various factors including sex, age, disease site, lesion type, lesion area, morphological characteristics, self-reported symptoms, and history of systemic diseases. Histopathological examination was performed for each patient, and the pathology results were analysed according to sex and age group.

Results: 70.5% of the OLP patients were female, and OLP was most likely to occur in the cheek, followed by the tongue, lips, gums and palate. The patients with moderate pain according to the VAS score accounted for 60%. Thirty-nine percent of the OLP patients had a systemic disease, and the most common clinical type of OLP was nonerosive. Most of the pathological results showed liquefaction degeneration of basal cells and infiltration of lamina propria lymphocytes. There was no statistically significant difference in pathological manifestations between male and female patients, and there were statistically significant differences in pathological manifestations among different ages patients.

Conclusion: This study analysed the sociodemographic data and clinical manifestations of 105 OLP patients to guide follow-up treatment planning and disease monitoring. Moreover, pathological manifestations should be analysed to avoid delayed treatment and to monitor for carcinogenesis. Furthermore, the correlation of pathological manifestations among OLP patients with different sexes and ages is conducive to further research on the specific differential manifestations and possible underlying mechanisms involved.

Keywords: clinical features; demographic characteristics; histopathology; oral lichen planus.

Fig 1

Fig 1 Clinical patterns of OLP. (a) reticular; (b) erosive/ulcerative; (c) atrophic; (d) papules; (e) plaque-like; (f) blister.

Fig 2

Fig 2 Histopathology of OLP. (a) Low-magnification photomicrograph showing epithelial parakeratosis and chronic inflammatory cell infiltration in the lamina propria (scale: 200 µm). (b) High-magnification photomicrograph showing liquefaction degeneration of basal keratinocytes and several colloid bodies (arrows) (scale: 50 µm).