Oral erythema multiforme: clinical observations and treatment of 95 patients

Erythema multiforme is a chronic, inflammatory mucocutaneous disease that can occur in both genders at any age. Although the cause remains obscure, a wide range of antigens and factors, including herpesvirus and other infections, has been suggested as triggering the disease. In the present study of 95 patients, we found that patients with oral involvement alone tend to predominate over those who have oral and lip, or oral, lip, and skin disease. There were also more women than men. Our study further confirmed that erythema multiforme cannot be characterized solely as a disease that is cyclical and self-limiting. The dramatic response to corticosteroids and to the immunoregulating agent levamisole, as well as the fact that patients with erythema multiforme are otherwise essentially healthy, suggests that erythema multiforme may be caused by a transient autoimmune defect, possibly triggered by multiple factors. Because 19 patients with oral candidiasis responded to antifungal therapy, a possible antigenic role for these organisms is suggested.