[Changes in the oral mucosa in chronic secondary disease]

Four patients with acute leukemia suffering from a chronic secondary illness (CSI) which developed 1.5 to 34 months after allogenous transplantation of bone marrow are described. One patient (female) was followed up over time: 14, 15, and 20 months after CSI was diagnosed, the rest patients were examined once, 15.5, 23, and 29 months, respectively, after the disease was diagnosed. Besides visual characterization of the buccal mucosa, results of cytologic examination of smear impressions are presented. Specific features of mucosa involvement at the peak of clinical manifestation of CSI and later, when the rest symptoms of secondary disease to a certain measure regressed, are described. The authors emphasize a similarity between the detected changes in the buccal mucosa and those observed in diseases which might be caused by immunity disorders.