Oral hairy leukoplakia with extensive oral mucosal involvement. Report of two cases.
Oral hairy leukoplakia (HL) is a lesion that occurs predominantly on the tongue in HIV-infected persons. Evidence strongly indicates that HL is related to the presence of Epstein-Barr virus in the epithelial cells. The lesion appears on the lateral border of the tongue as a painless, white plaque varying in size from a few millimeters to extensive lingual involvement. Histopathologically, the characteristic findings are hyperparakeratosis, hyperplasia, and ballooning of prickle cells resembling koilocytosis. HL is now considered a frequent, early, and specific sign of HIV infection and a strong indicator that AIDS will develop in the patient. We report on two cases of HL with marked oral mucosal involvement with extension to the pharyngeal mucosa.
Kabani
S
S
Tufts University School of Dental Medicine, Boston, MA 02111.
Greenspan
D
D
deSouza
Y
Y
Greenspan
J S
JS
Cataldo
E
E
D000328:Adult; D006679:HIV Seropositivity; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human; D006801:Humans; D007972:Leukoplakia, Oral / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000473:pathology*; D014062:Tongue Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology*; D014412:Tumor Virus Infections / Q000473:pathology*