Discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE) is a chronic disease localized in the skin or mucosa, and systemic symptoms as usually seen in SLE are rerely noted.
It is said that lesions are seen also in the oral mucosa in about 20 percent of DLE patients with dermal lesions, but little has been reported in Japan about the oral lesion of DLE so far. It may be caused by the difficulty of differential diagnosis. Because, the oral DLE is free from pathognomonic findings, its clinical findings are varied, it is similar to lichen planus, leukoplakia and other diseases, and it is particularly similar to the lichen planus histopathologically.
We recently experienced a case of oral discoid lupus erythematosus in a 26 year-old female patient with lesions in the buccal mucosa and gingiva, and its outline is reported together with reference literature, mainly relating to distinction from lichen planus.
