Systemic corticosteroid therapy of oral vesiculoerosive diseases (OVED). An open trial.
BACKGROUND
We report the preliminary findings from our open study on how to optimize the doses and the response times to systemic corticosteroid therapy for three forms of oral vesiculoerosive diseases (OVED).


METHODS
All twenty-one patients enrolled in the study were affected with OVED (10 OLP, 6 MMP, 5 EM) and received different doses of prednisone in relation to the type of disease and its severity. Daily mouthwashes with 0.12% chlorhexidine and application of miconazole gel were added to the therapy; its response time to treatment varied individually, the doses were reduced only after 75% of lesions had cleared.


RESULTS
The average response time to treatment was 28 days. Clinical assessment showed that 95% of the patients had improved, whereas 71% had complete remission of oral signs and 48% experienced side effects. The degree of clinical resolution was: 70% complete remission after 26 days of therapy in patients with OLP, 33% complete remission after 38 days in patients with MMP, and 100% complete remission after ten days in patients with EM.


CONCLUSIONS
Although a preliminary study, initial results showed different types and times of response to systemic corticosteroid treatment for the three diseases. Our findings strongly suggest that a unified therapeutic protocol for different OVED is not advisable, nor can systemic treatment be considered the first therapeutic approach.
Carbone
M
M
Department of Oral Medicine and Periodontology, School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of Turin.
Carrozzo
M
M
Castellano
S
S
Conrotto
D
D
Broccoletti
R
R
Gandolfo
S
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004892:Erythema Multiforme / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D017676:Lichen Planus, Oral / Q000188:drug therapy*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009059:Mouth Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010390:Pemphigoid, Benign Mucous Membrane / Q000188:drug therapy*; D011241:Prednisone / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000009:adverse effects; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
D000305:Adrenal Cortex Hormones; D005938:Glucocorticoids; D011241:Prednisone