Abstract
BACKGROUND: A role for hepatitis C virus in oral lichen planus has been postulated. This systematic review and meta-analysis of the existing epidemiological studies was conducted to determine if there is a correlation between oral lichen planus and hepatitis C virus infection.
METHODS: We examined the association between hepatitis C virus and oral lichen planus by conducting a systematic review and meta-analysis of case-control studies that examined the prevalence of anti-HCV antibodies in the serum of cases and controls. We searched PubMed, Embase and The Cochrane Library databases from 2005 to January 2015. Associations were measured using random-effect odds ratios (ORs) combined with 95% confidence intervals.
RESULTS: Nineteen eligible studies, encompassing 1807 cases of OLP and 2519 controls, were retrieved and included in this review. The summary estimate OR for all studies was 6.07 (95% CI: 2.73-13.48), showing a statistically significant difference in the proportion of HCV seropositivity among oral lichen planus patients, compared with controls and substantial heterogeneity between studies (I(2) = 65%) as a result of a variety of geographical distributions.
CONCLUSIONS: The association of hepatitis C virus infection with oral lichen planus emphasizes the importance of hepatitis C virus screening in oral lichen planus patients.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 282-287 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | Australian Dental Journal |
| Volume | 61 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1 Sep 2016 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Hepatitis C
- lichen planus
- meta-analysis
- oral
- systematic review
