White Lesions Flashcards
Reasons lesions may be white:
- Intracellular edema 2. Plaques 3. Reduced vascularity 4. Fungal colonies
White lesions that can be scraped off
- White coated tongue
- Pseudomembranous candidiasis
- Thermal burn
- Sloughing traumatic lesion
- Toothpase reaction
- Chemical burn
White lesions that can’t be scraped off:
- Heridirary conditions
- Reaction lesions
- Preneoplastic lesion
- Lesions due to EBV
Which herditary lesion is not a true one?
Leukoedema
Features of leukoedema
- General opacification of buccal mucosa
- Asymptomatic
- BILATERAL
Why does leukoedema have a grayish-white color?
It’s more common in African-Americans
Common populations with leukoedema
Smokers and African Americans
Pathognomonic sign of leukoedema
Disappears when the mucosa is stretched
Histopathology of leukoedema

Epithelium: parakeratotic and acanthotic
Spinous layer: intracellular edema
Enlarged cells with lots of clear cytoplasm and small nucleus
Two important tests for white lesions
- Scrape it
- Stretch it
DD of leukoedema
- White sponge nevus
- HBID
- Chronic cheek biting
- Lichen planus
What is the etiology of lichen planus
Unknown etiology, but it is NOT autoimmune
T/F Leukoedema has a patch and is elevated
FALSE
White sponge nevus
Keratin 4 or 13 mutation
Features of white sponge nevus
- BILATERAL
- NOT on skin
- Occurs on GI, genital, and oral tract
- Younger patients
- No pain
Histopathology of WSN
- Thick epithelium
- Parakeratosis
- Acanthosis
- Perinuclear eosinophilic condensation of cytoplasm of prickle cells
HBID stands for:
Hereditary benign intraepithelial dyskeratisis
Who does HBID happen in
Triracial isolate: Caucasian, Native American, and AA in North Carolina
Key clinical feature of HBID
- Bulbar conjunctivitis
- Conjuctival plaques
- Foamy gelatinous plaques in the eye and orally
- White oral lesions
What mucosa involved in HBID
ANY mucosa including BILATERAL
Histopath of HBID
Hyperplasia
Acanthosis
Intracellular edema of the epithelium
Etiology of frictional keratosis
Chronic rubbing or friction
Clinical presentation of frictional keratosis
- Gray or gray/white
- Ill-defined margin
Common locations of frictional keratosis
Lip
Buccal mucosa
Tongue
Alveolar ridge