title: Lichen sclerosis: clinicopathological study of 60 cases from Lebanon.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Lichen sclerosus (LS) is an uncommon idiopathic chronic inflammatory debilitating disease with predilection for the genital region. Our recent encounter with an LS case exhibiting perineural inflammation microscopically prompted us to assess the features of all patients diagnosed with LS at our institution.
  
  
  METHODS
  All cases of LS diagnosed between 1990 and 2014 were retrospectively reviewed. Diagnosis was confirmed with demonstration of microscopic features typical of LS.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Sixty patients (42 women and 18 men) with 65 biopsy specimens of LS were identified, of which 41 were extragenital, 16 genital, and three had both. Histopathologically, significantly higher proportions of follicular plugging, atrophy, and vacuolar interface changes were observed in extragenital LS cases, while angiokeratoma-like, mycosis fungoides-like, and pseudoepitheliomatous changes were only seen in genital LS. Perineural inflammation was observed as a novel finding in 22 cases (33.8%) of LS.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Features of patients with LS in this study are generally comparable to those published in the literature, with some differences. In contrast to the literature, extragenital LS was more frequently encountered. Histopathologically, perineural inflammation was not an uncommon feature of LS and thus may serve as a clue in the differentiation of LS from its mimickers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Zeina
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Knio
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon.
authors.forename: Mazen
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kurban
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, American University of Beirut Medical Center, Beirut, Lebanon. oa09@aub.edu.lb.
authors.forename: Ossama
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Abbas
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D052798:Balanitis Xerotica Obliterans / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D002648:Child; D005121:Extremities; D005260:Female; D006257:Head; D006801:Humans; D007861:Lebanon; D018459:Lichen Sclerosus et Atrophicus / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000150:complications; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009333:Neck; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012594:Scleroderma, Localized / Q000150:complications; D013967:Thyroiditis, Autoimmune / Q000150:complications; D060726:Torso; D007724:Vulvar Lichen Sclerosus / Q000150:complications / Q000473:pathology*; D055815:Young Adult