engleski

Oral lichen planus in Sweden and Croatia – A Comparative Study

Objectives: To compare clinical characteristics and the use of systemic medication in a Swedish and a Croatian population with oral lichen planus (OLP). Methods: Data from 956 (mean age=54.9 years ; females n=625) and 563 (mean age=60 years ; females n=414) OLP patients who respectively visited the Department of Oral Medicine and Pathology at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, and the Department of Oral Medicine at the University of Zagreb, Croatia, were collected using a standardized registration method. Information regarding clinical types of OLP, smoking habits, allergies, patient self- reported illness, subjective symptoms, regular medication and systemic diseases was collected. Results: In the Swedish population, 9.7% of the OLP lesions were ulcerative (22.9% in the Croatian), 28.5% erythematous (4.3%), 4.4% plaque-like (5.7%), 57.1% reticular (64.8%) and 0.3% papular (2.3%). Gingival involvement of OLP was present in 37.9% of the Swedish and 31.1% of the Croatians, and 11.6% and 21.2% of the patients were active smokers, respectively. The Swedish population (22.1%) reported more allergies than the Croatian (11%). Self-reported illness was higher among the Croatians (51.9%) than the Swedish (27.3%). Similarly, 39.7% of the Swedish and 56.3% of the Croatian population presented with subjective symptoms. In both groups, the majority of patients (51.2% of the Swedish and 68.4% of the Croatians) were using at least one regular systemic medication, and this was more frequent among women (57.3% and 72.5%, respectively). In general, drugs from the cardiovascular group were the most used in both populations (22.5% in Sweden ; 36.8% in Croatia). However, the most common single medication used in both groups was levothyroxine (8.9% of the Swedish ; 9.9% of the Croatian). Hypertension (15.3% of the Swedish ; 38% of the Croatian) was the most frequent disease in both populations, followed by hypothyroidism (6.2% of the Swedish ; 9.2% of the Croatian) and diabetes (4.9% of the Swedish ; 6.4% of the Croatian). Conclusion: The clinical characteristics and medication profile of patients with OLP in Sweden and Croatia were comparable. The use of levothyroxine was highly increased among the patients with OLP in both populations. Relevance The results argue for further investigation into the possible association between OLP and hypothyroidism.

oral lichen planus; malignant transformation

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