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Melkersson Rosenthal syndrome a challenge for dermatologists to
participate in the field of oral medicine
Hornstein OP
J Dermatol 1997 May;24(5):281-96
Melkersson-Rosenthal syndrome (MRS) is a neuro-muco-cutaneous disorder
involving remittently both the oro-facial innervation and muco-cutaneous
tissues in a pathosis of complex origin characterized by recurrent edema,
facial or other palsies, and nerval dysfunctions frequently associated with
plicated tongue. Biopsies taken from the edematous tissues often reveal a
temporary pattern of moderate epitheloid granulomatous inflammation
scattered scarcely within remarkable tissue edema. However, this
histological pattern is not a prerequisite for the diagnosis of MRS. The
disease usually runs an intermittent and unpredictable course over years or
decades and may have, if the edemas involve the tongue or the central
nervous system, an ambiguous outcome. Greatly disfiguring oro-facial
swellings often result from secondary persistence of the primarily recurrent
edemas. A classification on grounds of different 'major' and 'minor signs'
of MRS is proposed in the present paper. In recent years, novel therapeutic
approaches involving either oral clofazimine or laser beam acupuncture
(according to the principles of traditional Chinese medicine) have proven to
be successful in some cases of MRS. Dermatology could play a larger role in
oral medicine by taking diseases such as MRS into account in studies among
specialties dealing with oro-facial pathoses.
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