Fifty-Jour patients with oral lichen planus were studied over a three-year period. The important sites were the cheek mucosa, tongue and gingiva. The reticular pattern was the most common type. The professionals and the white collar workers formed the majority of the cases. Emotional disturbances was a predominant factor in this lesion. The rate of malignant change ranges from one to ten percent. Treatment included reassurance, good oral hygiene, avoidance of hot and spicy foods and topical corticosteroids.
An analysis of cutaneous amyloidosis cases during a five year period, from January 1, 1983 to December 31, 1987, showed that of 78 cases suffering from lichen amyloidosis, 9 patients (11.5%) were male and 71 patients (80.5%) female. Macular skin amyloidosis was observed. Sixty patients (76.9%) were found in the age range of 20-50 years. Forty-nine patients (62.8%) suffered from the disease for 2 years or less. Skin changes were mainly located on the shin areas, the posterior part of the lower thighs and posterior part of the forearms. Treatment with strong topical corticosteroids and keratolytic agents (salicylic acid ointment in higher than 3%) proved to be unsatisfactory. The literature mentions higher incidence of lichen amyloidosis in Chinese, Malaysians and Indonesians than in Caucasians.
Forty-five Asian patients (Indians 35, Chinese 8, Malay 2) with histologically proven lichen planus were studied by immunofluorescence. The most characteristic feature, seen in 93% of the cases, was shaggy deposition of fibrinogen along the basement membrane. Immunoglobulin deposition along the basement membrane was notably, absent. Colloid bodies were observed in 87% of the cases. Fibrinogen was the most common immunoreactant, and its presence in colloid bodies was always associated with fibrinogen deposition along the basement membrane zone. Colloid bodies also contained a variety of other immunoreactants. However, staining for IgM was noted to be the most intense. The combination of shaggy deposition of fibrinogen along the basement membrane, in the absence of immunoglobulins, and the presence of colloid bodies around the basement membrane zone, is highly characteristic of lichen planus. The pattern of immunofluorescence among Asians with lichen planus, conforms to that observed in other races. There did not appear to be any difference in the immunofluorescence staining with pattern in the three racial groups studied.