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Clinical assessment of disease severity in recurrent aphthous stomatitis
Author(s) -
Tappuni Anwar R.,
Kovacevic Tatjana,
Shirlaw Penelope J.,
Challacombe Stephen J.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
journal of oral pathology and medicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.887
H-Index - 83
eISSN - 1600-0714
pISSN - 0904-2512
DOI - 10.1111/jop.12059
Subject(s) - medicine , recurrent aphthous stomatitis , stomatitis , clinical trial , severity of illness , gastroenterology , disease , surgery , dermatology
Background Recurrent aphthous stomatitis ( RAS ) is one of the most common oral mucosal diseases in many parts of the world. However, there is very limited published clinical evidence for the therapies used in this condition. This could be partly due to the difficulty in evaluating the efficacy of oral ulcer treatment objectively. In this paper, we present a method for assessing and monitoring the severity of oral ulcers before and after treatment. Methods Six ulcer characteristics, number, size, duration, ulcer‐free period, site and pain, were used to generate an ulcer severity score (USS). The scores for 223 RAS patients were determined, and 79 were scored again after 3‐month therapy with topical betamethasone. Results The scores for the minor RAS group were between 18 and 43 (mean 29.2 ± 5.3). The mean score in the major ulcers group (range: 28–60, mean 39.9 ± 6.1) was significantly greater than in the minor group ( P < 0.001). The herpetiform recurrent ulcers score range was wide (range: 18–57, mean 36.6 ± 8.4). The mean severity score decreased significantly after treatment ( P < 0.001). Conclusions The USS was indicative of the disease activity in recurrent oral ulceration. It helped in assessing the efficacy of therapy, as the change in the numerical score reflected the change in ulcer severity in response to treatment. This tool may well prove to be of value in clinical management, research and in clinical trials.