Review Article
An update about cheilitis

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajoms.2021.02.001Get rights and content

Abstract

Objective

To present a brief review of the literature on the different types of cheilitis, focusing on the clinical, histopathological and treatment characteristics.

Methods

Electronic databases were searched for studies assessing published researches and case reports on all types of cheilitis.

Results

Cheilitis is the term that refers to the inflammatory state of the lips, which may involve the perioral region, lip vermilion and/or labial mucosa, with lip vermilion being the most affected area. There are different types of cheilitis and amongst the most commonly reported in the literature there are: actinic, desquamative/factitious, glandular, contact/eczematous, angular, granulomatous, plasma cell, associated or secondary to skin or systemic diseases, drug-induced or drug reaction cheilitis.

Conclusions

The diagnosis of inflammatory conditions of the lips requires a complete clinical examination and, when necessary, complementary tests in order to achieve a correct diagnosis and satisfactory treatment for the different conditions. Dental surgeons and physicians must know the importance of the correct diagnosis to indicate the best therapy for each type of cheilitis, aiming patients’ well-being and better prognosis.

Introduction

Lip vermilion is a transition zone between the skin and the oral mucosa that exhibits a thin layer of epithelium and has no cutaneous attachments (sweat and sebaceous glands, and hair follicles) and is therefore more susceptible to invasion of pathogens and irritation by climatic, chemical, physical and mechanical factors [1]. The lesions that affect the lips can be manifestations of systemic diseases, local expression of dermatological diseases or even a localized condition of the lips [2].

Cheilitis is the acute or chronic inflammatory state of the lips that involves the perioral region, lip vermilion and/or labial mucosa, with the vermilion being the most affected area. Cheilitis are classified into different types and amongst the most commonly reported in the literature there are: actinic, desquamative/factitious, glandular, contact/eczematous, angular, granulomatous, plasma cell, associated or secondary to skin or systemic diseases, drug-induced or drug reaction cheilitis [[2], [3], [4], [5], [6]]. The objective of this study is to present a brief review of the literature on the different types of cheilitis and to discuss current aspects regarding the diagnosis and treatment of these lesions.

Section snippets

Methods

We conducted a narrative literature review of published researches and case reports on all types of cheilitis. We searched and identified articles of the following bibliographic databases: PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, ScienceDirect and Scielo. The search included all articles published up to November 2019.

Actinic cheilitis

Actinic cheilitis (AC) is an inflammatory process of the lips that occurs due to chronic exposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR). It is commonly diagnosed in white males, over 40-years-old, who engage in activities related to chronic and excessive sun exposure [5,[7], [8], [9], [10]].

AC can be classified as acute or chronic. The acute phase occurs when there is an excessive exposure to the sun in a short period of time and is clinically characterized by discrete lip volume increase and

Conclusion

Diverse inflammatory lesions can affect the lips, therefore the diagnosis of these conditions should begin with a complete clinical examination. The anamnesis should include the duration of the lesion, habits such as smoking, onicophagy and history of exposure to UVR, contact to irritating factors, systemic diseases and medication administration. The lesions that affect the lips may represent a localized condition or a local manifestation of systemic diseases. Dental surgeons and physicians

Sources of funding

Not applicable.

Disclaimers

Not applicable

Ethical approval

The authors wish to declare that all experiments on human subjects were conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki. Ethical approval for this study was obtained from the relevant local ethics committees and patient consent was obtained.

Authorship

All authors have made substantial contributions to all of the following: (AKGG, HION, ILC, TS) the conception and design of the study, acquisition of data, and analysis and interpretation of data, (PTO, AMC) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content, and (EJDS) final approval of the version to be submitted.

Declaration of Competing Interest

The authors report no declarations of interest.

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