Objective: Erythema multiforme (EM) continues to be an underestimated disease with a lack of strict classification and diagnostic criteria. We present the analysis of a case series of 60 oral EM patients from 2 centers and illustrate the range of oral clinical presentations.
Study design: Clinical data from 60 EM patients with oral involvement, diagnosed and treated between 1982 and 2014, were retrospectively collected from the archives of 2 independent hospitals. Statistical analyses of the data were performed using the Pearson χ-squared test and the Mann-Whitney U test.
Result: Thirty-one patients (51.7%) were male and 29 (48.3%) were female, with a mean (±SD) age of 37.9 years (±18.1). The frequency of previous occurrences ranged from 0 to 10 (mean ± SD: 1.4 ± 2.0). Twenty-nine patients (48%) had no previous occurrence. Medications (particularly antipyretics, food additives, and antibiotics) were the suspected precipitants in 28 patients (46.7%), whereas herpes simplex virus infection was suspected in 18 (30.0%). All but 1 patient had involvement of multiple oral sites, with the buccal mucosa being the most commonly involved oral site (75%), followed by the vermillion border (71.7%).
Conclusions: Patients with EM may present initially to oral health care workers. Medications and herpes simplex virus continue to be the most typically involved precipitating factors. Our data highlight the additional role of food-derived antigens. Although laboratory tests can provide support diagnostically, EM diagnosis continues to be based on clinical features. A medication and food diary should be encouraged particularly in patients with recurrent forms.
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