patients suffering from lichen planus and 20 control patients with healthy oral mucous were selected, From the case histories, of the patients suffering from lichen a good ability to modulate the inflammation and the locoregional immune response. In the case of severe symptoms, the association of systemic steroids may be indicated in the initial phase of the treatment (18).The association of antimicrobes improves the clinical results as it eliminates the proliferation C. Albicansand prevents eventual infection consequent to the use of corticosteroids (17). Because ofthe antikeratinizing and immunomodulating properties, topical preparations based on vitamin A (retinoid) seem to have a key role in the treatment of the reticular and plaque forms, reducing the consequences of the use of corticosteroids. Some authors show how the use of Isotretinoina (or 13 cis-retinoic acid) at 0.1% in gel form induced the clinical resolution of reticular and plaque lesions of oral lichen planus (19)(20)(21)(22)(23).Various studies are reported in the literature on scanning electron microscope (SEM) analysis of the characteristics of healthy and diseased oral mucous cell surfaces (4-5, 11-15), but none have used this method for evaluating the effects of treatment of the precancerous lesions. The aim of this study is to analyse and compare the morphology of surfaces of oral mucous affected by lichen planus, before and after treatment, with those of healthy oral mucous. Cancer of the oral cavity is a frequent worldwide neoplasia, averaging 4% in men and 2% in women. Cancer of the oral cavity is often preceded by particular epithelial lesions, called "precancerous lesions". The aim of this study is to evaluate, by SEM microscope analysis, before and after treatment with 0.1 % 13-cis-retinoic, the morphostructural variation of the surface of the oral mucous affected by lichen planus in respect to healthy oral mucous. Following topical therapy with 0.1% 13-cis-retinoic acid for 8 weeks, a restoration of the physiological morphostructure was observed by SEM, demonstrating the efficaciousness of the treatment and the SEM analysis for identifying the lesions of oral epithelium.
SEM ANALYSIS OF ORAL LICHEN PLANUS BEFORE AND AFTER TREATMENT WITH 13 cis-RETINOIC ACID