ABSTRACT
Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic inflammatory disease of autoimmune origin that affects the skin and mucous membranes. The aim of this study was to assess the effectiveness of infrared thermography (IRT) as a diagnostic tool in patients with oral lichen planus (OLP), as well as disturbances in taste perception, in cases with and without tongue involvement. A case-control study was carried out in a sample of 87 patients divided into three groups: healthy individuals (controls; n = 43), OLP patients without involvement of the tongue (n = 24), and OLP patients with involvement of the tongue (n = 20). The patient symptoms and the clinical characteristics of the lesions were assessed. Four thermal images of the tongue were obtained using IRT: dorsum, right and left lateral surface, and tip of the tongue. General taste perception capacity and subjective sweet, acid, salty, and bitter sensation were evaluated in all three groups. There were no statistically significant differences in the IRT values among the three groups (p ≥ 0.05). In the OLP patients with involvement of the tongue, significantly higher values were observed in the mixed forms of the disease (p = 0.032). The OLP patients with and without involvement of the tongue showed no significant alterations in taste sensation (p = 0.69). IRT may serve as a complementary tool for assessing the activity of OLP with involvement of the tongue. However, more research is needed in this field.
ABSTRACT
OBJECTIVES: Thermography is an imaging technique based on the acquisition and analysis of thermal data. The present study evaluates the use of tongue infrared thermography (IRT) as a tool for the diagnosis of burning mouth syndrome (BMS). MATERIAL AND METHODS: An IRT study was carried out in patients diagnosed with BMS according to the criteria of the International Association for the Study of Pain (n = 32) and in healthy controls (n = 35). Burning sensations, dry mouth and taste disturbances were assessed, and three temperature values were recorded for each tongue surface (dorsal, right lateral, left lateral and tip), along with body temperature and environmental temperature. RESULTS: A statistically significant difference was recorded in the temperature of the dorsal surface of the tongue between the BMS group and the controls (p = 0.01). The area under the curve (AUC) was 0.731 (95% CI: 0.402-0.657; p = 0.003). The sensitivity and specificity obtained was 62% and 77%, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Infrared thermography appears to be useful as a complementary tool for the diagnosis of BMS, though further studies are needed in this field.
