Leprous macrocheilia: A rare clinical presentation

Abstract

Oral leprosy, a granulomatous disease is classified under the term oro-facial granulomatosis which comprises a group of diseases characterized by noncaseating granulomas affecting the soft tissues of the oral and maxillofacial region. The most common clinical presentation of oro-facial granulomatous conditions is persistent swelling of one or both lips. Due to its rare incidence and clinical findings overlapping with other granulomatous conditions such as sarcoidosis, Crohn's disease, and cheilitis granulomatosa; it is practically difficult for a dental surgeon to easily diagnose this condition. This study presents a case of leprosy causing macrocheilia as the only clinical presentation and diagnosed initially as Miescher's cheilitis based on exclusion criteria.

Keywords

• Cheilitis granulomatosa
• macrocheilia
• Miescher's cheilitis
• oral leprosy
• oro-facial granulomatosis