Oral mucosal lesions in sarcoidosis: Comparison with cutaneous lesions

Abstract

Sarcoidosis is a multisystemic disorder of unknown cause characterized by non-caseating granulomas. The skin is affected in 20-35% of cases with systemic compromise (1), although exclusively cutaneous sarcoidosis has also been described (1). Diagnosis is frequently first established by a dermatologist. Cutaneous lesions have been well characterized, and commonly consist of papules, plaques (including angiolupoid and lupus pernio) and nodules; rarer forms include ulcerated, lichenoid, atrophic, psoriasiform, ichthyosiform, and vitiligo-like presentations (1). Oral mucosal lesions of sarcoidosis have been reported only rarely, and most descriptions come from the dental literature (2-5). However, clinical characterization of the lesions has not been properly performed in most of these publications: the lesions are imprecisely described as “masses”, “swellings”, “granulomas”, “gingivitis”, “gingival hyperplasia” or “gingival recession” (2-6). In none of these cases was any attempt made to correlate mucosal and cutaneous lesions. There are no studies comparing oral mucosal lesions of sarcoidosis with their cutaneous counterpart.