Abstract
AimTo study the prevalence of orofacial manifestations in leukemic children undergoing treatment and to correlate these manifestations with various stages of chemotherapy.Materials and methodsA prospective noninvasive study comprising 43 acute lymphocytic leukemic pediatric patients at various stages of therapy. They were examined on day of their each blood examination, and lesions were recorded on a self-designed pro forma. A total of 133 observations were recorded by a single observer. The treatment was divided into the phase of induction, consolidation, maintenance, and relapse.ResultsThe data were analyzed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 10.1. There were 24 males and 19 females in this study, aged between 3 and 13 years. The common oral lesions seen were dental caries, lymphadenopathy (86.04%), pallor (65.11%), ulcers (13.95%), mucositis (16.27%), gingival enlargement, hemorrhages (20.93%), candidiasis, herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection, xerostomia (44.18%), paresthesia, and tooth mobility. Herpes simplex virus infection was seen only during induction and consolidation phases. Ulcers were seen during all phases of therapy.Clinical significanceOrofacial manifestations may be seen as the first sign of leukemia and a dentist may play a significant role in the diagnosis of the disease per se. This study highlights not only about commonly occurring lesions but also their variation during various phases of therapy. To the best of our knowledge, no study has such an extensive reporting of orofacial manifestations of acute lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) patients under treatment.How to cite this article: Aggarwal A, Pai KM. Orofacial Manifestations of Leukemic Children on Treatment: A Descriptive Study. Int J Clin Pediatr Dent 2018;11(3):193-198.
Highlights
Acute leukemias account for most number of childhood malignancies (80%).[1,2,3] There is a high incidence of orofacial manifestations
Ulcers were seen during all phases of therapy
Clinical significance: Orofacial manifestations may be seen as the first sign of leukemia and a dentist may play a significant role in the diagnosis of the disease per se
Summary
Acute leukemias account for most number of childhood malignancies (80%).[1,2,3] There is a high incidence of orofacial manifestations. These could be seen either as initial symptoms, or as secondary findings at the time of initial examination, or found to develop secondary to treatment instituted. Oral manifestations may be seen as the first sign of the disease and a dentist may play a major role in the diagnosis of the disease per se. Any unexplainable oral finding along with systemic signs should always be thoroughly further evaluated with investigations. It has been reported that oral lesions may precede the changes in the blood counts
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callMore From: International Journal of Clinical Pediatric Dentistry
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
