title: Pentoxifylline therapy in the management of oral submucous fibrosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Oral submucous fibrosis is a common premalignant condition in the Indian subcontinent and is caused by chewing areca nut and other irritants in various forms. Its medical treatment is not yet fully standardized. In this study we compared the efficacy of Pentoxifylline as compared to placebo.
  
  
  METHODS
  75 patients suffering from oral submucous fibrosis were randomly divided into two groups A and B. Group A patients received placebo, while Group B patients received 400 mg. Pentoxifylline for a period of 7 months. Treatment outcome was evaluated on the basis of improvement in symptom and sign scores. Student's t test was applied for comparing the results.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The improvement in total (i.e. symptoms + sign) score was 25% in group A and 49.15% in group B. This difference was found to be statistically significant. (p < 0.05)
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Treatment regimen of group B was more effective. No significant side effects were seen. A follow up study is required to assess long term outcome of this therapy.
authors.affiliation: Departments of Pathology, MLN Medical College and SRN Hospital, Allahabad, India. rm8509@rediffmail.com
authors.forename: Ravi
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mehrotra
authors.forename: H P
authors.initials: HP
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: S C
authors.initials: SC
authors.lastname: Gupta
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Singh
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Jain
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001114:Areca / Q000009:adverse effects; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007194:India; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009914:Oral Submucous Fibrosis / Q000188:drug therapy*; D010431:Pentoxifylline / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011230:Precancerous Conditions / Q000188:drug therapy*; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D010431:Pentoxifylline