Abstract
Introduction, aim: Oral lichen planus is one of the most common diseases of the oral mucosa. It is present in approximately 0,5%-2% of population.
Despite the large number of scientific papers focused on oral lichen planus, the etiology of the disease remains unclear. There are several basic forms, the most common being the reticular form.
The subjective symptoms associated with oral lichen planus can vary considerably from minimal symptomatology to severe pain in affected tissues, including problems with speaking, food intake or oral hygiene procedures. The risk of malignant transformation of oral lichen planus / lichenoid lesions has been studied in various ways and still figures as a subject that has been addressed by a number of experts in various fields of medicine.
Some manifestations resembling of oral lichen planus are classified as lichenoid drug eruptions, contact lesions, and lichenoid stomatitis in graft versus host disease, while other cases are defined as idiopathic lichen planus where the cause is unknown. The aim of this publication is to present current knowledges concerning oral lichen planus and lichenoid stomatitis.
Methods: PubMed databasis publications focused on risk factors, malignant potential and therapeutic options of oral lichen planus and lichenoid stomatitis have been critically reviewed. Great emphasis was put on suspicious risk factors and risk of malignant transformation and therapeutic options for these diseases.
Results: Oral lichen planus is a chronic disease that can lead to a significant limitation of life. The diagnosis of oral lichen planus is always based on proper clinical examination and histopathological characteristics.
Diagnosing of this disease only on a clinical or histopathological basis can lead to a significant percentage of diagnostic errors. This may have fatal consequences, especially in the absence of exclusion of other potentially malignant diseases that can often imitate lichen planus, lichenoid stomatitis respectively, at clinical level, but ultimately have a different course.
Thus, as far as possible, the unambiguous clinical and histopathological definition of oral lichen planus and lichenoid stomatitis is the crucial moment of the entire diagnostic algorithm. Conclusion: Research activities in this field are supported primarily by scientific work dealing with the possible malignant transformation of oral lichen planus and the extension of therapeutic options.
Current trend of scientific approaches is to support this tendency.