Response of Plasma Cell Orificial Mucositis to Topically Applied Steroids

Abstract

<h3>To the Editor.—</h3> In 1952, Zoon¹described a condition predominantly affecting the glans penis in which the main histologic abnormality was a dermal plasma cell infiltrate. Since then, many authors have described a similar condition involving the oral cavity, these having been summarized under one name—plasma cell orificial mucositis—by White et al.²To date, noninvasive treatments have not been found to be effective. We describe a patient whose condition responded rapidly to therapy with clobetasol proprionate (Dermovate, Glaxo Laboratories Ltd, Greenford, England) ointment. <h3>Report of a Case.—</h3> A 52-year-old woman who had suffered from atopic eczema since childhood developed a well-demarcated orange-yellow thickened plaque on the lower lip in 1984 (Fig 1, top). There was no obvious precipitating cause for this, there having been no history of trauma and no evidence of contact allergy or candidal infection (each implicated in some previous cases). A biopsy specimen showed parakeratosis,