Pyoderma gangrenosum with oral involvement - case report and review of the literature

Pyoderma gangrenosum (PG) is a rare, noninfectious neutrophilic dermatosis. Clinically, it begins with sterile pustules that rapidly progress into painful ulcers of variable depth and size with undermined violaceous borders. The diagnosis of PG is based on the history of an underlying disease, a typical clinical presentation, histopathology, and exclusion of other diseases. The peak incidence occurs between the ages of 20 to 50 years with women being more often affected than men. There have been very few reports of pyoderma gangrenosum with oral mucosal involvement. Oral lesions in previously reported cases have included ulcers of varying sizes from a few mm to several cm and have been reported to have been found on the tongue, soft and hard palate, buccal mucosa, and gingiva. Some of these oral lesions have been associated with ulcerative colitis, inflammatory bowel disease, and polycythemia rubra vera. A few cases were reported with biopsy findings, the histological picture being nonspecific, showing ulceration, and necrosis with inflammatory cell infiltrate. A peculiar case of pyoderma gangrenosum with an oral lesion is presented here, and the differential diagnosis is discussed.