Bacillary angiomatosis affecting the oral cavity. Report of two cases and review.

Bacillary angiomatosis (BA) is an infectious disease characterized by proliferative vascular lesions; it mainly affects HIV-positive patients. Multiple cutaneous nodular lesions together with fever, chills, malaise, anorexia, vomiting and headache are the most important clinical manifestations. It may also involve the heart, liver, spleen, bones, lung, muscles, lymph nodes, central nervous system and other organs. Erythromycin, 500 mg four times a day, is the drug of choice. The importance of this lesion lies in its clinical and histological similarity with other diseases. Cutaneous and oral lesions of BA clinically resemble Kaposi's sarcoma (KS). Histopathologically, BA may be confused with angiosarcoma, pyogenic granuloma and epithelioid hemangioma. We report two HIV-positive men with BA lesions in the oral mucosa. Diagnosis was confirmed by biopsy and Warthin-Starry silver staining.

Evolution of saliva and serum components in patients with oral candidosis topically treated with Ketoconazole and Nystatin.

The present study involves the analysis of some saliva components (SC) and serum components in patients with oral candidosis topically treated with Ketoconazole 2% (K) or Nystatin 100,000 IU (N). Twenty-four male and female patients, age range 39-82 years, were included in the study. A double-blind study was undertaken in which the patients were divided into 2 treatment groups. These groups were compared with a control group (CG) of 16 healthy patients, both male and female, age-matched with the treated groups. The parameters evaluated were oral mucous membrane lesion index (MLI), CFU of Candida, saliva flow rate, protein-bound Fe (Fe-prot), Fe-prot binding capacity (Fe-prot cap), IgAs, peroxidase activity (PA), hypothiocyanite and thiocyanite. The values of Candida CFU and MLI were significantly reduced in patients treated with K and N. The pre-treatment values of SC as compared to the CG revealed a reduction in Fe-prot and Fe-prot cap. These parameters reach values similar to control towards the end of the treatment. The PA was significantly higher in candidosis patients and fell to control values with treatment. The other SC and serum components did not exhibit significant differences with the CG. Patients with oral candidosis treated locally exhibit not only an improvement in clinical manifestations but also a return to control values of altered SC.

Evaluation of serum and saliva components in candidosis patients.

The serum and saliva components of 36 chronic Candidosis patients, both male and female, ages 38-82 who attended the Department of Clinical Stomatology were studied. Total Mucous Lesion Index (TMLI) and salivary flow rate were assessed. The following parameters were evaluated: iron bound protein, unsaturated iron binding capacity, peroxidase activity, protein content, OSCN-, SCN-, IgAs, Candida and St. mutans levels and lactobacilli activity. Candidosis patients exhibited higher Candida CFU values and increased activity of the peroxidase system (p < 0.05) whereas unsaturated iron binding capacity was significantly lower as compared to healthy subjects (p < 0.05). Furthermore, TMLI and Candida CFU values were higher in diseased subjects wearing complete prosthesis as compared to those without complete prosthesis. Diseased subjects with < 1.2 ml/min salivary flow rate exhibited even greater differences with control. This subgroup exhibited a marked reduction in IgAs. The serum components assayed were iron bound protein, unsaturated iron binding capacity, IgG, IgA and IgM. Unsaturated iron binding capacity was significantly lower in the Candidosis group (p = 0.03). Subjects suffering from oral Candidosis display deficiencies in some of their saliva components, evidencing impaired oral defense capacity.

A comparative study of oral lichen planus and leukoplakia in two Argentine populations.

Oral Lichen Planus and Leukoplakia are two precancerous lesions of great relevance in oral pathology. A total of 4183 patients from the National University of Córdoba (UNC) and 4838 patients from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) who had been admitted to the corresponding Oral Pathology Departments were analyzed. Of the total number of patients, 476 corresponded to Lichen Planus cases and 418 to Leukoplakia cases. Of the 476 Lichen Planus cases, 330 came from UBA and 146 from UNC, whereas of the 418 cases of Leukoplakia, 284 came from UNC and 134 from UBA. These differences were statistically significant (p < 0.02). Distribution according to sex and age was similar for Lichen Planus and Leukoplakia patients from both Oral Pathology Departments. The association between diabetes and Lichen Planus was similar for both centers, 11.5% for UNC and 14% for UBA. Similarly, no differences were found in terms of the association with tobacco consumption and dental microtrauma. Twenty-two percent of UNC patients were smokers whereas only 11% of UBA patients were smokers. This finding could explain the larger amount of Leukoplakia in UNC. The differences in the incidence of Lichen Planus could be attributed to the fact that the Buenos Aires population is under greater stress and the higher incidence of Leukoplakia in UNC could be related to the smoking habits of this population.

Morphometric study of nucleolar organizer regions in human oral normal mucosa, papilloma and squamous cell carcinoma.

A morphometric study of nucleolar organizer regions (NOR) was performed to analyze their distribution, volume, number and shape in the different strata of human normal oral mucosa epithelium and papilloma and in squamous cell carcinoma employing microphotographs of silver-stained paraffin sections. The different NOR-related parameters evidenced significant differences between normal mucosa, papilloma and squamous cell carcinoma. The functional polarity of normal mucosa epithelium and of papilloma is also evidenced in terms of NOR-related parameters. The discriminative value of certain NOR parameters was demonstrated.