The evaluation of cutaneous, genital, scalp, nail, esophageal, and ocular involvement in patients with oral lichen planus.

OBJECTIVE: Lichen planus, in its classical presentation, involves the oral cavity and skin. This study evaluated patients with oral lichen planus for extraoral manifestations of the disease.

STUDY DESIGN: A total of 584 patients with oral lichen planus were evaluated for cutaneous, genital, scalp, nail, esophageal, and ocular lichen planus.

RESULTS: Extraoral manifestations included cutaneous lichen planus in 93 patients, genital lichen planus in 19% of 399 examined women and 4.6% of 174 examined men, nail involvement in 11 patients, lichen planopilaris in 6 patients, esophageal lichen planus in 6 patients, and conjunctival lichen planus in 1 patient. Thirty-three patients developed lichen planus in 3 or more sites.

CONCLUSIONS: Because a relatively high percentage of patients with oral lichen planus develop extraoral manifestations, a thorough evaluation should routinely be performed. A complete history and physical examination by a multidisciplinary group of health care providers uncovers common and uncommon extraoral features of the disease.