title: Vulval pruritus: the experience of gynaecologists revealed by biopsy.
abstract: Pruritus of the vulva is a common symptom among patients attending to outpatient clinics. In the present study, we aimed to assess pathologies causing vulval pruritus in the reliability of biopsy in a tertiary referral centre. A total of 137 patients undergoing vulval colposcopy because of vulval pruritus were reviewed from the hospital records retrospectively. The mean age of the patients was 47.61 ± 11.88 years and 36.5% of the patients were postmenopausal. In 101 (73.7%) of the patients, macroscopic lesions were present. In 88 (64.2%) of the patients, tolidine-positive stained areas were determined under colposcopy. In total, 68 (49.6%) of the lesions were plain, whereas 51 (37.2%) of them were depigmented. Lichen simplex chronicus, lichen sclerosis and chronic inflammation were the major pathologies associated with vulval pruritus (25.5%, n = 35; 20.4%, n = 28; 14.6%, n = 20). In conclusion, several pathologies out of vulvovaginal candidiasis may lead to vulval pruritus and clinicians should be aware of the importance of biopsy in determining the underlying pathology.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gynaecology and Obstetrics, Eskisehir Osmangazi University, School of Medicine , Eskisehir , Turkey.
authors.forename: S S
authors.initials: SS
authors.lastname: Ozalp
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Telli
authors.forename: O T
authors.initials: OT
authors.lastname: Yalcin
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Oge
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Karakas
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D001706:Biopsy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009450:Neurodermatitis / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D011539:Pruritus Vulvae / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014844:Vulva / Q000473:pathology*; D007724:Vulvar Lichen Sclerosus / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*
keywords: Colposcopy; gynaecology; pruritus; vulva