Non-infectious granulomatous disorders of the upper lip: clinicopathological analysis of 11 patients

BACKGROUND: Non-infectious granulomatous disorders of the upper lip represent a special chapter of oral and maxillofacial pathology. In this work we report a case-series of this process, to analyse its main clinicopathological features and find differential data that allow us improve its diagnosis and understand its pathogenesis. METHODS: We present 11 cases of non-infectious granulomatous disorders of the upper lip, 8 women and 3 men with an age range of 29–84 years, who have been attended at the Oral Medicine Department of the IUCT (France) and the Oral Medicine Unit of the UPV/EHU (Spain). All clinicopathological data were collected in a specific protocol. RESULTS: We recognized 4 different subtypes of non-infectious granulomatous disorders of the upper lip: (1) associated with Crohn’s disease (1 case), (2) associated with foreign body (2 cases), (3) associated with gingivitis lichenoid-like (4 cases), (4) idiopathic (4 cases). CONCLUSIONS: Clinicopathological differences were identified between these subtypes. A good differential diagnosis is necessary in all cases to rule out the presence of local or systemic etiopathogenic factors.