Oral Lichen Planus: Clinical Presentation, Demographic Characteristics, and Risk Factors in a Retrospective Study of...

Background/Objectives: Lichen planus (LP) is a chronic, recurrent mucocutaneous inflammatory disease that develops due to a disturbed immunological response triggered by endogenous and exogenous factors. To evaluate clinical presentation, demographic characteristics, and risk factors in a cohort of Polish patients with oral lichen planus (OLP). Methods: Medical records of 186 patients with OLP referred to the student outpatient clinic in Poznań University of Medical Sciences from 2013 to 2023 were analyzed in order to establish clinical presentation, patient's demographic characteristics, and risk factors for OLP. We considered data regarding age, sex, medical history, habits, subjective complaints, clinical type, localization, histology, and treatment. Results: Patients with OLP constituted 20.1% of 887 admitted patients. Of the 186 patients with OLP, 130 (69.9%) were females and 56 (30.1%) were males. The average age at the diagnosis was 60.7 years (range 15-95 years). Only 24.2% of patients reported smoking. The most common intraoral presentation of OLP was reticular form (61.8%), followed by mixed erosive-bullous type (15%), and atrophic (6.4%). Pathologic lesions were most commonly located on buccal mucosa (89.2%) and tongue (58.6%). Subjective complaints included pain (48.4%), burning sensation (46.2%), xerostomia (25.3%), bleeding (10.2%), taste disturbance (4.8%), and excessive saliva production (3.8%), while 22.6% of OLP patients were asymptomatic. Conclusions: The most common type of OLP in Polish patients was reticular, developing mostly on the buccal mucosa and tongue. It was found most often in non-smoking middle-aged women. Subjective complaints were reported by over 77% of patients.