title: An epidemiological study of immune-mediated skin diseases affecting the oral cavity.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Immune-mediated skin diseases encompass a variety of pathologies that present in different forms in the body.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this study was to establish the prevalence of the principal immune-mediated skin diseases affecting the oral cavity.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 10,292 histopathology reports stored in the archives of the Anatomical Pathology Laboratory, Department of Oral Pathology, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte, covering the period from 1988 to 2009, were evaluated. For the cases diagnosed with some type of disease relevant to the study, clinical data such as the gender, age and ethnicity of the patient, the anatomical site of the disease and its symptomatology were collected.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Of all the cases registered at the above-mentioned service, 82 (0.8%) corresponded to immune-mediated skin diseases with symptoms affecting the oral cavity. The diseases found in this study were: oral lichen planus, pemphigus vulgaris and benign mucous membrane pemphigoid. Oral lichen planus was the most common lesion, comprising 68.05% of the cases analyzed. Of these cases, 64.3% were women and the cheek mucosa was the anatomical site most commonly affected (46.8%).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Immune-mediated skin diseases affecting the oral cavity continue to be rare, the prevalence found in this study being similar to that reported for the majority of regions worldwide. Nevertheless, early diagnosis is indispensable in the treatment of these diseases, bearing in mind that systemic involvement is possible in these patients.
authors.affiliation: School of Dentistry, Universidade Federal de Campina Grande, Patos, PB, Brasil. cyntia_helena@yahoo.com.br
authors.forename: Cyntia Helena Pereira de
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Carvalho
authors.forename: Bruna Rafaela Martins dos
authors.initials: BR
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Camila de Castro
authors.initials: Cde C
authors.lastname: Vieira
authors.forename: Emeline das Neves de Araújo
authors.initials: Ed
authors.lastname: Lima
authors.forename: Pedro Paulo de Andrade
authors.initials: PP
authors.lastname: Santos
authors.forename: Roseana de Almeida
authors.initials: Rde A
authors.lastname: Freitas
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D001938:Brazil / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D017676:Lichen Planus, Oral / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009059:Mouth Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D009061:Mouth Mucosa / Q000473:pathology; D010390:Pemphigoid, Benign Mucous Membrane / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D010392:Pemphigus / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D015995:Prevalence; D012737:Sex Factors; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D055815:Young Adult