Haematological abnormalities in oral lichen planus, candidiasis, leukoplakia and non-specific stomatitis

A series of 322 patients presenting with non-ulcerative conditions of the oral mucosa was examined for haematological abnormalities. The series was divided into 5 major groups--lichen planus (103 patients), candidiasis (50), leukoplakia (30), stomatitis or glossitis (66), and a miscellaneous group (73). The prevalence of anaemia, and deficiences in iron, folate and vitamin B12 in each group were compared with that found in 100 controls. The prevalence of anaemia in the series as a whole was not significantly increased, but the prevalences of sideropenia (14.0%), folate deficiency (4.7%) and vitamin B12 deficiency (3.1%) were increased as compared with controls. The prevalence of a haematological abnormality was increased in patients with lichen planus (18/103 p less than 0.05), stomatitis (15/66 p less than 0.01) and particularly in patients with Candidiasis (18/50 p less than 0.001). In the stomatitis group, approximately 45% of the male patients were found to have some haematological deficiency compared with less than 20% of the female patients. The increased prevalence of haematological deficiences suggests that patients presenting with non-ulcerative conditions of the oral mucosa (particularly candidiasis and non-specific stomatitis) should be screened haematologically and that, in some patients with candidiasis, haematological deficiencies may predispose towards candidal infection.