(32) The Impact of COVID-19 on the Incidence of Lichen Planus: A Large Cohort Retrospective Cross-sectional Study

Thursday, September 15, 2022

1:30 PM – 3:00 PM CDT

Presenting Author(s)

Hamad Alharbi, DDS, MS

Surgeon
King Abdulaziz University
Houston, Texas, United States

Co-Author(s)

WS

Wafaa Saleh, DDS, MS, PhD

Assistant professor
Mansoura University
St Louis Park, Minnesota, United States
Rui P. Fernandes, MD, DMD, FACS, FRCS

Professor
University of Florida
Jacksonville, Florida, United States

Disclosure(s):

Hamad Alharbi, DDS, MS: No financial relationships to disclose

Wafaa Saleh, DDS, MS, PhD: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Rui P. Fernandes, MD, DMD, FACS, FRCS: I do not have any relevant financial / non-financial relationships with any proprietary interests.

Abstract:

Background:
COVID-19 is a worldwide pandemic that triggered severe social and economic disruption around the world. Several adverse oral and dermatologic reactions were detected after COVID-19 infection and vaccination among which, lichen planus (LP) was described in a few case reports. However, the association between these conditions is still unclear. We performed a cross-sectional study to assess the risk of developing LP following COVID-19 infection as well as COVID-19 vaccines.

Methods:
We conducted a retrospective cross-sectional study of a large cohort of the population from January 2020 to January 2022. The ICD-10 diagnoses of COVID-19 infection, COVID-19 vaccine status, and LP were obtained. The odds ratio was assessed for patients who developed LP after COVID-19 infection and vaccines using a logistic regression model with adjusting the gender, race, age, and comorbidity conditions. P < 0.05 was deemed significant.

Results:
Among 684110 registered patients, 25113 patients were positive for COVID-19 while 154689 received vaccines for COVID-19. Twenty-four patients were diagnosed with LP after COVID-19 infection while 181 patients reported LP after vaccination. The odds ratio for having LP for people with COVID-19 infection was 1.143 (95% CI: 0.760-1.721, P=0.52) before adjustments. People with COVID-19 vaccination were 1.573 times to have LP than people without COVID-19 vaccination. (OR=1.573, 95% CI: 1.319-1.876, P< 0.001).

Conclusion:
The odds of getting LP in people who received the COVID-19 vaccines are significantly higher than in those without vaccination. As a result, it is crucial that dentists, dermatologists, and primary care physicians include LP in their differential diagnosis when examining patients with abnormal oral mucosal or dermatologic lesions along with a history of recent COVID infection or vaccination. Those patients require a close observation until the condition is resolved.