ABSTRACT
Objective: To analyze and summarize the clinical and pathological characteristics, management, and efficacy of patients with vulvar lichen sclerosus (VLS) through a single center large sample study, and preliminarily to explore the frequency of maintenance treatment medication for VLS. Methods: The clinical data of VLS patients in Obstetrics and Gynecology Hospital of Fudan University from 2018 to 2021 were retrospectively collected. The clinicopathological characteristics (patients' age, course of disease, complicated disease history, family history, symptoms, signs and pathology), treatment and effects were retrospectively analyzed. The patients in the maintenance treatment stage were followed up regularly to explore the minimum frequency of individual medication to maintain the stability of the disease. Results: (1) General situation: a total of 345 patients with VLS were included in this study. The average age was (50.4±14.7) years (ranged from 8 to 84 years old), prevalence was highest in the 50-59 years group (30.1%, 104/345). Immune diseases occurred in 18.6% (33/177) of patients, 24.3% (43/177) of patients had allergic skin diseases, and 5.6% (10/177) of the patients' immediate family members had chronic vulvar pruritus or vulvar hypopigmentation. (2) Clinical features: the most common symptom was vulvar pruritus (96.1%, 196/204) among 204 patients with recorded symptoms. The most common sign was hypopigmentation of the vulva (96.3%, 206/214). The most common involved sites were labia minora (70.3%, 142/202), labia majora (67.8%, 137/202), and labial sulcus (59.4%, 120/202). The cumulative number of sites involved in 62 vulvar atrophy patients (2.7±1.1) was significantly higher than that in 152 non-atrophy patients (2.2±1.0; t=3.48, P=0.001). The course of vulvar atrophy was (9.3±8.5) years, which was significantly longer than that of non-atrophy patients [(6.6±5.6) years; t=2.04, P=0.046]. (3) Pathological features: among the 286 patients with electronic pathological sections, the most common pathological feature in the epidermis was epithelial nail process passivation (71.3%, 204/286). The common pathological features in the dermis were interstitial collagenization (84.6%, 242/286), and inflammatory cell infiltration (73.8%, 211/286). (4) Treatment: 177 patients received standardized treatment after diagnosis and were followed up regularly in our hospital. In the initial treatment stage, 26.0% (46/177) of the patients were treated with 0.05% clobetasol propionate cream, and 74.0% (131/177) of the patients were treated with 0.1% mometasone furoate ointment. The complete remission rates of the two methods were respectively 80.4% (37/46) and 74.0% (97/131), and there was no statistically significant difference (χ²=0.76, P=0.385). During maintenance treatment, 27.1% (48/177) of the patients took the medication twice a week, 35.0% (62/177) took the medication once a week, and 37.9% (67/177) took the medication once every 10 days. During follow-up after 6 months of maintenance treatment, there were no patients with recurrence of pruritus or progression of vulvar signs. Conclusions: The majority of VLS patients have itching, hypopigmentation, involvement of labia minora and labia majora, progressive atrophy, and inflammatory infiltration of dermis. Local treatments of mometasone furoate and clobetasol propionate have good initial therapeutic effects. The frequency exploration of individualized maintenance treatment could minimize the occurrence of adverse reactions when ensuring the stability of the patients' condition.
Subject(s)
Female , Humans , Child , Adolescent , Young Adult , Adult , Middle Aged , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Vulvar Lichen Sclerosus/pathology , Clobetasol/adverse effects , Retrospective Studies , Mometasone Furoate/therapeutic use , Pruritus/drug therapy , Atrophy/drug therapy , Hypopigmentation/drug therapyABSTRACT
Introducción. El liquen escleroso es una entidad que se caracteriza por afectar piel y mucosas. Por su localización de elección a nivel vulvar, es abordado tanto por ginecólogos como por dermatólogos. Se debe realizar un seguimiento exhaustivo de estas pacientes con la finalidad de mejorar la calidad de vida y evitar su transformación a carcinoma espinocelular. Objetivo. Determinar la incidencia de liquen escleroso en nuestro medio y su relación con el carcinoma espinocelular vulvar.Material y métodos. Se incluyeron en el estudio 32 pacientes con diagnóstico de liquen escleroso genital evaluadas en el Consultorio de Patología Vulvar en un período de cinco años. Resultados. El liquen escleroso representó el 7,05% de las consultas en el Consultorio de Patología Vulvar. De las 32 pacientes evaluadas, el rango de edad fue de 50 a 82 años, con una media de 66 años.La incidencia familiar fue observada en un caso (3,12%), en el que se vieron afectadas madre e hija. En el 96% de las enfermas, el síntoma preponderante fue el prurito.De las 32 pacientes con liquen escleroso, 6 (18,75%) se asociaron a carcinoma espinocelular; de éstos, 4 (66,7%) correspondieron a VIN diferenciado y 2 (33,3%) a carcinomas invasores. Durante el seguimiento, una de las pacientes falleció a causa del tumor. Conclusiones. El liquen escleroso es una patología frecuente que debería ser evaluada en forma conjunta por dermatólogos y ginecólogos. La transformación maligna en el 18,75% de nuestros casos justifica un seguimiento exhaustivo tanto clínico como histopatológico con la finalidad de detectar en forma temprana la aparición de neoplasias.