Oral mucosa lesions in rosacea patients

Introduction: Rosacea is a chronic inflammatory disease that mainly affects women's skin over the age of 30. Rosacea's importance lies in that it can lead to ocular mucosa alterations, degenerations in the psychosocial aspect of the person who suffers from the disease, among other alterations. Interestingly, rosacea modifies the levels of matrix metalloproteinases in the crevicular fluid, suggesting that rosacea may cause changes at the oral level. Apart from the evidence that exists, up until now, the presence of lesions in the oral mucosa has not been investigated. Objective: Identify the frequency and type of abnormalities in the oral mucosa in individuals with rosacea. Materials and methods: The subjects were selected by convenience previously diagnosed with rosacea by an expert dermatologist. Everyone was 18 or older. Individuals with systemic diseases (lupus, diabetes, psoriasis, rheumatoid arthritis, etc.) were excluded from the study. Before the mucosa exam, a clinical record was made from the information provided by the patient and for the oral cavity mucosa, an intraoral clinical examination was carried out by observing and palpating structures and possible lesions. Results: 20 subjects were included with a diagnosis of rosacea, 95% of them were woman and the average age was 32.15. The frequency of abnormalities in the oral mucosa was 20%, the more frequent type and location was oral ulcer and yugal mucosa, respectively. Conclusion: The results of this study showed that 20% of the subjects studied presented oral lesions that varied between ulcer, petechia and taint, the ulcer being the most frequent.