title: Clinical features of oral lichen planus. A retrospective study of 65 cases.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To describe the clinical features of patients diagnosed with oral lichen planus (OLP) and to establish the prevalence of its malignant transformation in our setting.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective study was made of 65 patients clinically and histologically diagnosed with OLP in the Service of Oral Surgery (Dental Clinic of the University of Barcelona, Spain) in the period 1990-2005. A descriptive and bivariate statistical analysis was made.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The mean patient age was 59 years (SD +/- 14.9). Most of the patients (61%) were women, and the most frequent location of the lesions was the buccal mucosa (90.8%). White forms of OLP were noted in 66% of the cases, and 46.2% of the patients reported symptoms of some kind. The patients diagnosed with diabetes mellitus (20%) showed a larger proportion of red lesions (p=0.088). No statistically significant association was observed between chronic liver disease and the OLP lesion types or symptoms. Two cases of squamous cell carcinoma were identified in two patients previously or simultaneously diagnosed with OLP. A statistically significant correlation was observed between dysplastic changes / malignization of the lesions and smoking habit (p=0.019). An association to alcohol abuse was also noted, though in this case statistical significance was not reached (p=0.085).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The clinical features of our study population were similar to those described in other studies. Diabetic patients with OLP were seen to be more susceptible to the development of atrophic-erosive lesions. Smokers and/or patients with alcohol abuse in turn showed a greater tendency to develop dysplastic changes / malignization in the histopathological study of the lesions.
authors.affiliation: Barcelona University Dental School, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Eulàlia
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Torrente-Castells
authors.forename: Rui
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Figueiredo
authors.forename: Leonardo
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Berini-Aytés
authors.forename: Cosme
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gay-Escoda
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017676:Lichen Planus, Oral / Q000175:diagnosis*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D055815:Young Adult