The evaluation of cutaneous, genital, scalp, nail, esophageal, and ocular involvement in patients with oral lichen planus

Objective, Lichen planus, in its classical presentation, involves the oral cavity and skin. This study evaluated patients with oral lichen planus for extraoral manifestations of the disease. Study design. A total of 584 patients with oral lichen planus were evaluate d for cutaneous, genital, scalp, nail, esophageal, and ocular lichen planus . Results. Extraoral manifestations included cutaneous lichen planus in 93 pa tients, genital lichen planus in 19% of 399 examined women and 4.6% of 174 examined men, nail involvement in 11 patients, lichen planopilaris in 6 pat ients, esophageal lichen planus in 6 patients, and conjunctival lichen plan us in 1 patient. Thirty-three patients developed lichen planus in 3 or more sites. Conclusions. Because a relatively high percentage of patients with oral lic hen planus develop extraoral manifestations, a thorough evaluation should r outinely be performed. A complete history and physical examination by a mul tidisciplinary group of health care providers uncovers common and uncommon extraoral features of the disease.