title: Necrotizing stomatitis: report of 3 Pseudomonas aeruginosa-positive patients.
abstract: Necrotizing oral lesions have been described in immunosuppressed patients, usually in association with gingival and periodontal pathoses. The etiology of these lesions has not been completely elucidated. We present 3 patients with a type of necrotizing stomatitis in which clinical patterns appear distinct from the periodontal forms of the disease. The lesions yielded bacterial cultures positive for Pseudomonas aeruginosa and reverted to no growth in 2 patients after proper antibiotic therapy. We propose that P aeruginosa may be responsible for selected necrotizing oral lesions with a clinical presentation lacking typical necrotizing periodontal disease and that this condition may represent the intraoral counterpart of ecthyma gangrenosum. In such cases, bacterial culture of the lesion becomes imperative because the disease does not respond to typical periodontal and antimicrobial therapy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Diagnostic Sciences, School of Dentistry, University of Detroit Mercy, Michigan 48219-0900, USA. barascan@udmercy.edu
authors.forename: Andrei
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Barasch
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gordon
authors.forename: Rose Y
authors.initials: RY
authors.lastname: Geist
authors.forename: James R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Geist
mesh_terms: D017088:AIDS-Related Opportunistic Infections / Q000382:microbiology; D000328:Adult; D004473:Ecthyma / Q000382:microbiology; D005260:Female; D005734:Gangrene / Q000382:microbiology; D005892:Gingivitis, Necrotizing Ulcerative / Q000382:microbiology*; D006801:Humans; D016867:Immunocompromised Host; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma / Q000150:complications; D011552:Pseudomonas Infections / Q000175:diagnosis*; D011550:Pseudomonas aeruginosa / Q000302:isolation & purification*