Symptoms in Plasma Cell Vulvitis: First Observational Cohort Study on Type, Frequency and Severity

Abstract

Background: Studies assessing symptoms of plasma cell vulvitis (PCV) are lacking. Objectives: To assess the prevalence and severity of PCV-related symptoms and identify possible associations between patient characteristics, clinical features of PCV and treatments administered before a definitive diagnosis. Methods: Thirty-six patients affected with PCV were included. Data were collected by direct interview and clinical examination. Results: Thirty patients (83.3%) complained of symptoms: burning was the most frequent (80.6%) while dyspareunia was the severest. Of the symptomatic patients, 73.3% experienced severe symptoms. Severity of symptoms was not associated with age at onset and duration of PCV. Almost 70% of the patients had previously undergone treatments. Conclusions: Symptoms in PCV are frequent and more than often severe. Neither age at onset nor duration of the disease nor the extent of vulvar involvement were associated with symptom severity. Both the delay in diagnosis and the inappropriate previous treatments seem to indicate frequent misdiagnosis.