Oral Lichen Planus and Lichenoid Lesions in Sjogren’s Syndrome Patients: A Prospective Study

Abstract

Objective. The aim of this study was to investigate the prevalence and characteristics of oral lichen planus (OLP) and oral lichenoid lesions (OLL) in Sjogren’s syndrome (SS) patients. Patients and Methods. A prospective clinical study was conducted at the Department of Oral Medicine and Oral Surgery in Sahloul Hospital, Sousse, from January 2012 to June 2018. The patients involved in this study were diagnosed with Sjogren’s syndrome according to the AECG (American-European consensus group) diagnostic criteria. Among these patients, we searched for those affected by OLP or OLL as determined by the WHO (World Health Organisation) classification of 2003. Clinical variables such as age, sex, medical conditions and medications, type of SS (primary or secondary), clinical form of OLP, and treatment were analyzed. The assessment of the results was performed using SPSS software. Results. We evaluated 30 patients (27 females and 3 males) diagnosed with SS (24 had primary SS) with a mean age of 55 years and 11 months (±11,714). Overall, 9 patients had oral lesions (30%). Two patients had OLP associated with secondary SS (25%). Primary Sjogren’s syndrome patients had 6 OLP lesions and one erythematous lichenoid lesion. OLP was erosive in eight patients, among them two had vulvo-vaginal-gingival syndrome. OLP lesions showed improvement in symptoms after topical or general corticosteroids treatment, while OLL showed improvement only under antibiotic treatment. Conclusion. The results of our analysis suggest that patients with SS have 30% prevalence of OLP and OLL. This possible association shows the importance of screening for oral dryness in patients with OLP or OLL. Treatment includes topical or general corticosteroids for erosive forms associated or not with topical antifungal treatment to treat or prevent oral candidiasis.

Evaluating the Frequency of Histopathological Features of Oral and Cutaneous Lichen Planus Lesions: A Retrospective- Comparative Study

“…In fact, clusters were found in four cases in the research by Arora [16]. In addition, CBs were reported at 82%, 62.1%, 45%, 37%, and 29% in the studies by Parihar, Dixit, Rampal, Grag and Arora, respectively, while the lowest level was observed in the present research [7,11,16,18,19] . This could be justified by different sample sizes and variety in LP forms.…”

“…In addition, basal cell layer degeneration was detected in all samples of the present study, which was severe in most CLP cases but moderate in the majority of OLP lesions. In many studies, including the current research, basal cell degeneration was observed in 100% of samples [7,11,12,16,25]. However, low amounts were reported in some studies, including the research by Rampal (81.7%) [18] In a research by Chatterjee et al, which was performed on OLP lesions of subjects below the age of 18, basal cell layer degeneration was observed in all samples, which was moderate and mild in 63.64% and 36.36% of the cases, respectively [26] .…”

“…However, no significant difference was observed between patients in terms of the relationship between age and LP. Numerous previous studies have reported a higher frequency of LP lesions in women [2,7,8]. However, there were a few studies that reported a higher LP lesion frequency in men [9][10][11].…”

Evaluation of Oral Dryness and the Salivary-flow Rate in Patients with Oral Lichen Planus

“…In accordance with their study, we found no correlation between OLP severity with oral dryness and a patient's salivary-flow rate. These results were not surprising because OLP is not a disease that first affects the salivary gland [27].…”

Oral lichen planus in a young patient: a case report with nine-year follow-up

“…Although many etiological mechanisms for the such condition have been postulated, including genetic susceptibility, emotional stress, and infections caused by viruses and bacteria, the precise etiology is unknown 5 . However, OLP is considered an immune-mediated disorder 6 . Clinically, six types of lesions may manifest individually or in combination: plaque-like, reticular, papular, bullous, atrophic, and erosive 3 .…”