Oral mucosal involvement and frequency of Pemphigus vulgaris inpatients at Khartoum

Abstract

Pemphigus Vulgaris(PV) is a potentially life-threatening autoimmune disease with a high mortality rate and oral manifestations often being the earliest symptoms. The aim of this study is to describe the frequency of Pemphigus Vulgaris in terms of Age, gender, residence and geographic origin, to study its frequency, type, and site distribution of Oral mucosal lesions (OMLs), analyze its association with skin lesions and to correlate it with systemic diseases and mortality rate.A retrospective hospital based study was done using in-patient records at Khartoum Dermatology and Venereal diseases Teaching Hospital from Jan 2010 to Dec 2019. Clinical evaluation and histopathological records were the method of diagnosis. Study variable such as socio–demographic data, oral mucosal lesions (type, site, distribution), presence of skin lesions, association with chronic systemic diseases, mortality were used in the study. A structural data collection sheet questionnaire, modified from the standard (WHO) questionnaire of OMLs, was used.In this study, 321 (47.3%) patients out of 678 patients were diagnosed with PV, of which the most common age group reported was 31-50 years (41.8%), females (68.6%) were more affected. Out of 321 PV cases, OML reported in 227 (70.7%) patients. The majority of OMLs (81.9%) were reported in more than one site, among which the most common reported site was Lip (23.5%) and (32.4%) of PV cases were associated with chronic systemic diseases, (10.9%) with mortality, of which, 29 (82.9%) out of 35 cases, reported with OMLs and peak age group of mortality was (41-50 years) (41.5%) among which female had higher mortality (78.9%).PV was seen to be the most commonly manifesting mucocutaneous disease among the study population. Majority of the cases had oral mucosal lesions in concordance with previous studies and literature.