[Mucocutaneous lichen planus with esophageal involvement. A clinical case]

The paper reports the case of a 58-year-old woman suffering from mucosal and cutaneous lichen planus (LP) with esophageal and oral involvement, who had complained of dysphagia for approximately the past two years. The diagnosis of esophageal LP was made using esophagoscopy with mucosal biopsy. The differential diagnosis between LP and progressive systemic sclerosis is discussed; a cold-test, plethysmography of the limbs, an anti-ENA Sci-70 antibody assay, X-rays of soft tissues and esophagomanometry were performed for this purpose, and all proved normal. The presence of conditions implicated in the etiopathogenesis of LP (psychic disorders and the administration of psychoactive drugs, anti-hypertensives and FANS) were observed, together with an already known association with arterial hypertension. Altered hepatic function (with an increase in cholestasis enzymes) was also noted which is probably attributable to the prolonged use of psychoactive drugs (hepatic biopsy showed severe steatosis).