Oral and Genital Lichen Planus in a Cohort of Iraqi Females

Lichen planus is a chronic, inflammatory, mucocutaneous autoimmune disease that affects various surfaces such as \nthe mucous membrane of the oral cavity, genitalia, skin, nail scalp esophagus, and eye. The lesion may affect many \nsites and at the same time, it may affect inter and extra orally. The lesion appears as a sequence of different types \nof lesion mostly intra orally and extra orally. The lesion may be associated with symptoms of pain and burning or \nwith candida growth. Objective: To evaluate a correlation between oral LP with age, GLP changes among Iraqi \nfemales patients, to isolate and identify Candida species from the mucous membrane of LP patients and to find its \nrole to aggravate these symptoms and its effects on the clinical investigation in that individual who had been used \ncarrageenan for treatment burning sensation. Material and methods: The study was performed at the college of \ndentistry, University of Baghdad. The sample consisted of 15 LP patients. Candida species were isolated from the \noral cavity of patients (affected and unaffected sites). Results: The most frequent affecting age was 45-54 and the \nbuccal mucosa was the most commonly affected site. The lesion was the Bilateral, symmetrical and reticular type of \nlesion appeared in 73.3% cases. Burning sensation at the buccal mucosa was the most prevalent complain of about \n86.6 patients while 2/3rdof the sample had genital symptoms. The vulval lesion was present in about 60 of genital \nlesions. High significant correlation was found between the genital lesion and the site of OLP lesion at buccal mucosa \nand gingiva. Carrageenan showed strategies to treat OLP symptoms. Candida growth was more at the affected site \nof OLP lesion than the normal site of the same patient. This may give an indication about its role in incidence and \naggravation of lesion. Conclusion: The diagnosis and management of LP lesion can be challenging for oral medicine \nand gynecologist specialist because of the lack of familiarity between these two branches and patient embarrassment \nin history recording. Therefore, genital LP should be considered among individuals with oral LP lesions.