Major recurrent oral ulcers in AIDS: report of three cases

We report the cases of three AIDS patients who developed major recurrent oral ulcers with severe odynophagia and weight loss. The patients were treated successfully with systemic steroids. Within the first week of prednisone therapy (40 mg/day), the symptoms improved and the lesions entirely healed. We suggest, on the bases of recent literature, that superantigens and the cytokine network could be involved and they should be considered in the immunopathogenic mechanisms of this type of ulcers.