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Background: Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) is a proliferative disease of histiocyte-like cells that generally affects children; LCH onset is rare in adults; immunohistochemistry is essential to obtain the correct diagnosis, and treatment protocols are controversial. Objective: To describe two new cases of adult onset oral LCH. Case reports: Case 1: a 71-year-old woman, complaining of diffuse oral pain, presented with erythematous mucosal lesions; the panoramic radiograph and CT scan showed multiple mandible radiolucent areas. Immunohistochemical assay for S-100, CD1a and langerin test was essential in reaching the correct diagnosis. Case 2: a 77-year-old female patient presented with a non-painful, non-bleeding, slightly elevated erythematous palatal lesion of 6 months duration, together with a genital vulvar lesion of uncertain nature. The pathology confirmed the diagnosis of LCH. Many therapies (etoposid, radiotherapy) could induce only a clinical partial remission; Cladribine induced a complete recovery. Conclusion: The first case was difficult to diagnose: the clinical presentation and course of the disease (LCH) in the elderly are multiple and unpredictable. An immunohistochemistry study is often essential to obtain the correct diagnosis. The second case required several therapeutic interventions: even though some cases regress spontaneously, others require systemic chemotherapy.

The focal infection theory, which for almost half a century justified indiscriminate extraction of teeth to cure focal infections, since the end of the 1940s has become progressively a discarded concept. In parallel with the declining importance assigned to pulp and periapical infections in the pathogenesis of focal diseases, over the last decade there has been increasing interest in the possible relationship between periodontal infection and systemic diseases. Periodontal pathogens and their products, as well as inflammatory mediators produced in gingival tissue, might enter the bloodstream through ulcerated pocket epithelium, causing systemic effects (focal diseases). On the basis of this mechanism, chronic periodontitis has been implicated as risk factor for cardiovascular diseases associated to atherosclerosis, bacterial endocarditis, diabetes mellitus, respiratory disease preterm delivery, rheumatoid arthritis, and more recently osteoporosis, pancreatic cancer, metabolic syndrome, renal diseases and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer‘s disease. Numerous hypotheses, including common susceptibility, systemic inflammation, direct bacterial infection and cross-reactivity, or molecular mimicry, between bacterial antigens and self-antigens, have been postulated to explain these relationships. In this context, the association of periodontal disease with systemic diseases has introduced the concept of periodontal medicine, which ultimately guides the medical community in therapeutic approaches to improve not only the patient oral health but also systemic health.

Background: Eosinophilic granuloma (EG) is a clinical variant of the Langerhans cell histiocytosis (LCH) characterized by unifocal or multifocal bone lesions which predominantly affects children, adolescents, and young adults. Case Report: A case is reported of a 13-year-old Caucasian boy who presented unifocal EG in the mandible as the first clinic manifestation. Radiographic examination and skeletal scintigraphy revealed a further localization with an osteolytic lesion in the right femur. The therapeutic protocol used for the mandibular lesion included causal periodontal therapy, extraction of the compromised teeth, alveolar curettage, and intralesional injections of corticosteroids, in correspondence with femoral and mandibular bone lesions. Conclusions: Early diagnosis of LCH is considered an important factor which can improve the patient's prognosis and quality of life and also the cost-effectiveness of therapy. Dentists could play a fundamental role in the diagnosis and management of EG. The aim of the treatment is to eradicate EG lesions and provide adequate oral rehabilitation after the tooth loss. A careful multidisciplinary follow-up program is mandatory to identify any signs of local recurrence or dissemination.

Obiettivi: L’utilizzo prolungato di un agente chimico antiplacca potrebbe essere utile nella gestione clinica dei pazienti affetti da lesioni gengivali desquamative (LGD), associate a patologie muco-cutanee autoimmuni. Scopo di questo studio pilota è stato quello di valutare l’efficacia di un collutorio contenente fluoruro amminico/fluoruro stannoso (ASF) (Meridol, GABA) in pazienti affetti da LGD e sottoposti a terapia parodontale di mantenimento (PST). Materiali e metodi: Sono stati selezionati ed inclusi nello studio 18 pazienti di razza caucasica (15:3, F:M) di età compresa tra 42 e 78 anni, aventi manifestazioni cliniche orali riconducibili a LGD. La diagnosi istopatologica effettuata in precedenza indicava come patologia di base il lichen planus. Il campione è stato suddiviso in maniera randomizzata in un gruppo test (T) e un gruppo controllo (K), ciascuno composto da 9 pazienti. Tutti i pazienti sono stati addestrati all’utilizzo dello spazzolino Meridol secondo la tecnica di Bass modificata; i 9 pazienti del gruppo T hanno utilizzato un collutorio contenente ASF per 90 giorni (T=1), secondo il dosaggio consigliato dall’azienda produttrice. Sono stati valutati: 1) il numero dei siti gengivali positivi per presenza di placca (PLI) e sanguinamento al sondaggio (BOP); 2) la sintomatologia dolorosa (pain intensity) e il sollievo dal dolore (pain relief) mediante Verbal Rating Scale (VRS). Risultati: L’analisi dei dati relativi al PLI non ha evidenziato differenze significative (p>0.05) tra i gruppi T e K al T=0, mentre al T=1 è stata riscontrata una significativa diminuzione del numero di siti PLI+ nel gruppo T sia in full-mouth (p=0.0137) che nei sestanti anteriori (p=0.0465) e posteriori (p=0.0047). In merito alla distribuzione dei valori di BOP, al T=0 non sono emerse differenze significative tra i due gruppi, mentre al T=1 è stata evidenziata una diminuzione significativa dei siti BOP+ nel gruppo T (p

Sco po di qu es to lavo ro è qu ello di pr esentare un aggio rnam ento su lla malatti aparodo nta le ne cro ti zza nt e (NPD). Attr averso laba nca dat i ME DLINE /Pu bMed, sono stati selezi onati i lav ori orig inali pubblicati in lingua inglese sull ’arg omento da gennaio 2002 a dicembre 2007. Altre fonti sono state seleziona te da i riferimenti bibliografici citati nei lavori consultati. La NPD è caratterizzata sul piano clinico da necrosi e ulcera zione del margine gengivale e della papilla interdentale, associat e ad alitosi, dolore, sanguinamento gengi vale spontaneo, malessere generale e talvolta febbre. La malattia è particolarmente diffusa nei paesi in via di sviluppo, ma può insorgere anche in soggetti che vivono nei paesi industrializzati. Costituiscono fattori predisponenti per l’insorgenza e la progressione della NPD la compromissione del sistema immunitario, la mal nutrizione, lo stress psico-fisico, il fumo, una carente igieneorale. La terapia della NPD devve tenere conto della sinto matologia dolorosa ,della condiz ione e della presenza di ulcerazioni; in caso di compromissione sistemi ca è indicata la terapia antibiotica

The term desquamative gingivitis (DG) refers to a clinical manifestation that can be caused by several disorders. Many of them are immunologically mediated; in addition to the oral cavity, they can affect extraoral mucocutaneous sites, e.g., larynx, conjunctiva, esophagus, nasal and genital mucosa, and the skin. The degree of oral, periodontal, and systemic involvement determines the overall morbidity and, sometimes, the mortality of these disorders. We comprehensively review disorders commonly associated with DG and highlight diagnostic pathways, guidelines for differential diagnosis, and oral, periodontal, and systemic implications. More rare conditions are reviewed as well. Mucous membrane pemphigoid, oral lichen planus, and pemphigus vulgaris are responsible for the majority of cases of DG. In addition, other uncommon disorders should be considered. Accurate clinical, histologic, and serologic investigations are often required to differentiate among DG-associated disorders, provide adequate therapy, and improve the prognosis of patients.

The present paper reviews relationship between chronic periodontitis and cardiovascular diseases. Original papers on this subject, published in English in the period between 2001 and the first semester 2006, were located in the MEDLINE/PubMed database. Additional studies were obtained by searching reference lists of previously published papers. Periodontal infection provides a chronic reservoir of inflammatory mediators and cytokines, lipopolysaccharide, which contribute to the formation of atheroma. Moreover, periodontal pathogens can penetrate the epithelial barrier of the periodontal tissues and reach the blood stream, carrying out a local atherogenic activity. Some studies indicated that periodontal treatment could result in reduction of cardiovascular events. If these results are confirmed in further intervention studies, the prevention and the treatment of periodontitis should be considered as factors able to avoid or reduced the onset and/or evolution of cardiovascular diseases.