ORIGINAL ARTICLE   

Giornale Italiano di Dermatologia e Venereologia 2019 June;154(3):347-51

DOI: 10.23736/S0392-0488.18.05810-8

Copyright © 2018 EDIZIONI MINERVA MEDICA

lingua: Inglese

Melkersson-Rosenthal Syndrome: the possible role of comorbidities in the etiopathogenesis

Guy SHALOM ¹ ✉, Lipa BODNER ², Sima HALEVY ¹

¹ Department of Dermatology and Venereology, Soroka Medical Center, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel; ² Unit of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery, Soroka Medical Center, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel

BACKGROUND: Melkersson-Rosenthal Syndrome (MRS) is a rare syndrome. Recently, possible association between MRS and psoriasis was reported. Our objective is to evaluate the presence of comorbidities in MRS with a focus on psoriasis-related morbidities.
METHODS: We conducted a case-control study consisting of a series of 12 patients with MRS and two groups of age- and gender-matched controls: 30 patients with psoriasis vulgaris and 28 patients with acute contact dermatitis. A comparative analysis for the prevalence of comorbidities, with a focus on psoriasis-related morbidities, was done.
RESULTS: Psoriasis-related morbidities including smoking, obesity, dyslipidemia, hypertension, and diabetes mellitus were recorded in 5 (42%) patients with MRS, compared to 15 (50%) patients with psoriasis and 2 (7%) patients with acute contact dermatitis. The prevalence of psoriasis-related morbidities did not differ significantly between the group of patients with MRS and the group of patients with psoriasis. On the other hand, the difference between the group of patients with MRS and the group of patients with contact dermatitis was statistically significant (P=0.01).
CONCLUSIONS: The similar prevalence of psoriasis-related morbidities in MRS and in psoriasis may further support an association between MRS and psoriasis.

KEY WORDS: Melkersson-Rosenthal syndrome; Tongue, fissured; Comorbidity; Psoriasis; Simplexvirus