Giant aphthous ulcers - ROS - 2017 - Tome 46 - N°2

Etymologically, "aphtha" comes from two Greek words - aptein: burn and aphtai: painful ulcer looking like a burn.

GENERAL FEATURES
The giant aphthous ulcer defines can be defined by the size of the oral ulceration, larger than one centimeter in diameter. It is a severe category of aphthous ulcerations, the most frequent locations are lips, cheeks, edges and tip of the tongue, soft palate, tonsillar pillars, pharynx (Dechaume et al.,1980). Gingival lesions are rarer. These ulcerations generate very intense pains and have even led several patients to attempt suicide (Pindborg, 1994). These pains also provoke considerable functional disorders such as dysphagia, odynophagia, dysphonia and hypersialorrhea.

AFFECTED POPULATIONS
The prevalence of giant aphthous ulcers stands for 10% of the oral recurrent aphthous ulcers among the general population (Coulon and Piette, 2007). It is more frequent in men than in women. Patients affected with AIDS with a low CD4 count are often affected (Dieb Miziara et al., 2005). The age of appearance ranges from 10 to 19 years old with a chronic evolution which can persist during 20 years and even longer.

Agenda