Abstract
Background: Several systemic diseases manifest themselves in the oral cavity. Oral manifestations of lupus erythematosus (LE) are associated with a significantly increased risk of cancer. Dentists who are unaware of these lesions will possibly miss them. This cross-sectional study aimed to assess the prevalence of oral manifestations in patients with LE in a sample of the Egyptian population. Methods: A descriptive study was performed on 189 patients attending the Internal Medicine Department, Rheumatology Clinic in EL Qasr EL Ainy Hospital, Cairo University. Every patient was examined clinically after completing a questionnaire. Moreover, patients’ medical records were also evaluated. The oral manifestations were recorded according to the WHO guide to physical examination of the oral cavity and classified according to their morphologic aspects and localization. Results: Out of 189 patients, there were 182 females (96.3%) and seven males (3.7%). The prevalence of oral lesions in LE patients was 55.6%. The most affected site was the tongue 25.7%. The most common clinical aspect was patches, 53%. About 77.1% of the lesions were asymptomatic. Conclusions: The present study emphasizes the importance of early diagnosis of oral lesions to recognize patients with LE as the WHO considers oral manifestations of LE a widespread state. Also, implementation of oral hygiene measures and treatment to improve patients’ nutritional state and health-related quality of life are recommended.
Highlights
Several systemic diseases manifest themselves in the oral cavity
The present study assessed the prevalence of oral manifestations among a sample of Egyptian patients recently diagnosed with lupus erythematosus as they are considered to be at a high risk of developing oral precancerous lesions
The group of lupus erythematosus (LE) patients was composed of 189 patients
Summary
Any further responses from the reviewers can be found at the end of the article Introduction Lupus erythematosus (LE) is an autoimmune disease subdivided into a cutaneous and a systemic form. As mentioned in the WHO digital manual for the early diagnosis of oral neoplasia (2008), several systemic diseases manifest themselves in the oral cavity. According to WHO guides for screening programs (2009),[6] most programs are selective and target a subset of the population who are considered to be at the highest risk.[7] the present study assessed the prevalence of oral manifestations among a sample of Egyptian patients recently diagnosed with lupus erythematosus as they are considered to be at a high risk of developing oral precancerous lesions
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