Vesiculobullous autoimmune diseases with oral mucosa manifestations: retrospective and follow-up study

Ocular involvement in oral vesiculobullous diseases: A review on reported cases in the literature

Introduction

Vesiculobullous disorders are a group of autoimmune diseases manifesting as chronic ulcers in the oral cavity. Ocular involvement may accompany oral ulcers and cause various problems for patients. This review summarizes the data regarding ocular involvement in patients with oral vesiculobullous.

Methods

Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed/MEDLINE, and Embase electronic databases were searched according to related keywords. Finally, 58 articles were included, all of which were case reports or series. Characteristics such as the age and sex of patients, location and type of oral lesion, type of ophthalmic injury, the interval between oral and ocular lesion, and treatment of oral and ocular disorders were summarized in tables.

Results

Eye involvement was 1.6 times more prevalent in women, and most patients were between 30 and 60 years old (67.4 %). Pemphigus vulgaris accounted for almost half of the cases (48.4 %), though lichen planus is more prevalent in the general population. The most frequently affected oral site was the buccal mucosa (17.5 %), and oral ulcers usually presented as erythema, erosion, or inflammation (22.7 %). Conjunctivitis was the most common type of eye involvement (18.4 %), and ophthalmic lesions regularly appeared 12-60 months after the development of oral lesions (30.1 %). Blindness was reported in only one case. Corticosteroids and immunosuppressives were the most frequent oral and ocular lesion therapies.

Conclusion

Considering the serious burdens of any ocular injury, monitoring the ocular health of patients with oral vesiculobullous diseases is highly recommended in high-risk cases, especially middle-aged women with oral pemphigus vulgaris.

Vesiculobullous Lesions of the Oral Cavity

Several dermatological conditions may manifest in the oral cavity, particularly those that are immune-mediated, and they must be distinguished from the various other types of oral ulcerations. This chapter discusses the clinical features, pathogenesis, differential diagnosis, and diagnostic features, including histology and immunofluorescence findings, as well as management of vesiculobullous diseases. These diseases include pemphigus Vulgaris, benign mucous membrane pemphigoid, bullous pemphigoid, and epidermolysis bullosa acquisita. These diseases have a significant impact on the quality of life, as they can lead to serious complications, depending on the extent of the disease. Therefore, early recognition is crucial, helping to reduce disease-related morbidity, mortality and prevent life-threatening complications.

Prevalence of oral mucosal lesions in patients with pemphigus vulgaris: A systematic review and meta-analysis

OBJECTIVE

To assess the prevalence of oral mucosal lesions in patients with Pemphigus Vulgaris.

METHODS

Observational studies reporting the prevalence of oral lesions in pemphigus vulgaris patients, without restriction to language and year of publication, were selected in a two-phase process. Search strategies were applied to PubMed, Scopus, Livivo, Web of Science, LILACS, Google Scholar, and OpenGrey databases. Articles assessing the prevalence of oral lesions in patients with conditions other than pemphigus vulgaris were excluded. Risk of bias analysis was performed using the Joanna Briggs Institute's Critical Appraisal Checklist for Studies Reporting Prevalence Data. Synthesis of results was calculated by the software R Statistics version 4.0.2 (The R Foundation). Confidence in cumulative evidence was assessed with the Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development, and Evaluation (GRADE) criteria.

RESULTS

From 1957 studies identified, 40 were included in qualitative synthesis and 38 in meta-analyses. The pooled prevalence of patients with oral lesions solely or concurrent with other mucocutaneous lesions was 90.3%. The prevalence of patients with exclusive oral mucosal lesions was 50.8%. Risk of bias was considered low, and the certainty of evidence was very low.

CONCLUSION

Oral lesions were present in approximately nine out of 10 patients with pemphigus vulgaris. The oral mucosa was the most common site of disease onset. Further longitudinal studies are urged to assess the prevalence of oral lesions at different disease stages.