Cutaneous Crohn's disease mimicking Melkersson-Rosenthal syndrome: treatment with methotrexate

Melkersson-Rosenthal Syndrome: A Case Report With a Bipolar Perspective

Melkersson-Rosenthal syndrome (MRS) is a rare neuro-mucocutaneous condition that presents with orofacial swelling, facial paralysis, and a fissured tongue. These classic triad of symptoms, however, very rarely present simultaneously. The symptoms are often seen alone or in pairs and appear at any stage in life. Although the etiology of this condition is unknown, various contributing factors have been suggested including infections, immune deficiencies, stress, and genetic predispositions. We present a case of a 23-year-old female patient who has a longstanding history of MRS, anxiety, and depression, and who attempted to overdose on prescription medications due to suicidal ideations.

Management of orofacial granulomatosis

Orofacial granulomatosis is a chronic relapsing-remitting inflammatory condition that shares a similar phenotypic presentation to some other granulomatous diseases, particularly Crohn's disease. However, subtle clinical and pathological differences justify it as a separate disease entity. Previous studies have assessed the effectiveness of interventions used in the management of orofacial granulomatosis. This article reviews the management options available. A literature search was conducted to identify studies, in English, which assessed the effect of non-pharmacological and pharmacological interventions in the treatment of orofacial granulomatosis. The interventions were categorised into dietary modification, pharmacological (topical, intralesional and systemic therapy), surgery and psychological. A combination of interventions is often required to effectively manage each patient. There is convincing evidence that diet plays a role in disease severity. In patients where dietary manipulation alone is unsuccessful, topical, intralesional and/or systemic treatment may be considered to manage the condition.

Evidence-based efficacy of methotrexate in adult Crohn's disease in different intestinal and extraintestinal indications

INTRODUCTION

Methotrexate (MTX) is included in the therapeutic armamentarium of Crohn's disease (CD), although its positioning is currently uncertain in an era in which many effective biological drugs are available. No systematic reviews or meta-analysis have stratified the clinical outcomes of MTX according to the specific clinical scenarios of its use.

METHODS

Medline, PubMed and Scopus were used to extract eligible studies, from database inception to May 2021. A total of 163 studies were included. A systematic review was performed by stratifying the outcomes of MTX according to formulation, clinical indication and criteria of efficacy.

RESULTS

The use of MTX is supported by randomized clinical trials only in steroid-dependent CD, with similar outcomes to thiopurines. The use of MTX in patients with steroid-refractoriness, failure of thiopurines or in combination with biologics is not supported by high levels of evidence. Combination therapy with biologics can optimize the immunogenic profile of the biological drug, but the impact on long-term clinical outcomes is described only in small series with anti-TNFα. Other off-label uses, such as fistulizing disease, mucosal healing, postoperative prevention and extraintestinal manifestations, are described in small uncontrolled series. The best performance in most indications was shown by parenteral MTX, favouring higher doses (25 mg/week) in the induction phase.

DISCUSSION

Evidence from high-quality studies in favour of MTX is scarce and limited to the steroid-dependent disease, in which other drugs are the leading players today. Many limitations on study design have been found, such as the prevalence of retrospective underpowered studies and the lack of stratification of outcomes according to specific types of patients and formulations of MTX.

CONCLUSION

MTX is a valid option as steroid-sparing agent in steroid-dependent CD. Numerous other clinical scenarios require well-designed clinical studies in terms of patient profile, drug formulation and dosage, and criteria of efficacy.

Current treatment modalities in granulomatous cheilitis

BACKGROUND

Granulomatous cheilitis (GC) is a poorly understood disorder of the labial mucosa, which is a subtype under an umbrella term "orofacial granulomatosis." Several treatment modalities have been tried in the management of GC with suboptimal to optimal results.

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this article is to discuss various treatment modalities, whether medical or surgical, that have been tried for the management of GC with success.

METHODS

A comprehensive literature search was performed to screen articles related to the successful treatment of GC. Articles published in journals indexed in PubMed were searched along with those in Google Scholar. There was no availability of systematic review or meta-analysis on treatment of GC in the literature search. Recent data has been collected and consolidated from various case reports and case series to provide a concise overview of various treatments applied in GC.

RESULTS

Various treatment modalities have been used in GC including glucocorticoids, antibiotics, immunomodulatory, and biological agents, surgical debulking, and laser therapy. No treatment modality has provided a predictable success. Intralesional corticosteroid therapy has been used more frequently either alone or in combination with other modalities.

Management Strategies of Melkersson-Rosenthal Syndrome: A Review

Melkerrson-Rosenthal syndrome is a rare disorder of unknown aetiology and characterized by the triad of oro-facial edema, facial nerve palsy, and furrowing of the tongue. Two or more of the above are essential for making a clinical diagnosis. The mainstay of treatment is corticosteroids. Intralesional triamcinolone acetonide may be used for the treatment of oro-facial edema. Another treatment option for oro-facial edema includes intralesional betamethasone, along with oral doxycycline. The review discusses the management strategies in Melkersson-Rosenthal syndrome.

Unsuccessful Treatment of Cheilitis Granulomatosa with Oral Methotrexate

Cheilitis granulomatosa (CG) is a rare idiopathic condition with painless lip swelling, characterized by non-necrotizing granulomatous inflammation in the absence of other identifiable causes such as Crohn's disease, sarcoidosis, foreign body reaction, or infection. CG may precede the presentation of Crohn's disease after long-term follow-up. Spontaneous remission of CG rarely occurs. To date, given the rarity of CG, there is no gold standard treatment. Recommended treatments are supported by small studies, case reports/series, and expert opinions. Glucocorticoids are the first-line therapy in the acute stages of the disease; however, recurrence commonly occurs. Previously, methotrexate (MTX) showed a beneficial effect on orofacial swelling in a case of CG accompanied by Crohn's disease. We present a patient with CG without Crohn's disease. He was treated with oral MTX in combination with intralesional corticosteroid injection on one side of the lip. The injected side showed improvement, while lip swelling on the noninjected area remained unchanged after 3 months of treatment. Therefore, CG is refractory to treatment with MTX from our experience. Further studies regarding the optimum dosage of MTX is needed.

Melkersson-Rosenthal syndrome - delay in the diagnosis of an early-onset oligosymptomatic variant

Melkersson-Rosenthal syndrome is a rare neuro-mucocutaneous disease with a chronic intermittent course, characterized by a classic triad of orofacial swelling, fissured tongue (lingua plicata) and facial paralysis. The authors describe the case of an oligosymptomatic variant (lip and tongue involvement) with childhood onset, whose diagnosis was only established at the age of 19 years. The syndrome's pathophysiology is unclear and the treatment is challenging; corticosteroid therapy is the mainstay of treatment and is associated with clinical and histological improvement.

Cheilitis granulomatosa associated with lupus erythematosus discoid and treated with methotrexate: report of a case

We present the rare case of a 47-year-old patient, suffering from cheilitis granulomatosa and lupus erythematosus discoid: this association is really exceptional because only once reported in English literature. In addition, the treatment of cheilitis granulomatosa is a challenge for the dermatologist: the gold standard, represented by steroids, is in fact designed as a short-time option. Our report confi rms the good efficacy of methotrexate as a steroid-sparing agent.

Orofacial Granulomatosis

Orofacial granulomatosis (OFG) is an uncommon chronic inflammatory disorder of the orofacial region. It is characterized by subepithelial noncaseating granulomas and has a spectrum of possible clinical manifestations ranging from subtle oral mucosal swelling to permanent disfiguring fibrous swelling of the lips and face. Etiopathogenesis is unknown. A range of systemic granulomatous disorders, including Crohn disease and sarcoidosis, may cause orofacial manifestations that cannot be distinguished from those of OFG. Treatment of OFG has proven difficult and unsatisfactory, with no single therapeutic model showing consistent efficacy in reducing orofacial swelling and mucosal inflammation.

Orofacial granulomatosis: clinical signs of different pathologies

Orofacial granulomatosis (OFG) is an uncommon disease characterized by persistent or recurrent soft tissue enlargement, oral ulceration and a variety of other orofacial features. It could be an oral manifestation of a systemic disease. For a correct differential diagnosis, local and systemic conditions characterized by granulomatous inflammation should be excluded using appropriate clinical and laboratory investigations. In fact, the diagnosis of OFG may be confirmed only by histopathological identification of noncaseating granulomas. The literature from 1943 to 2014 was reviewed with emphasis on the etiology of OFG and on clinical manifestations of systemic pathologies associated with OFG. The precise cause of OFG is still unknown, although several theories have been suggested, such as infection, hereditary factors and allergy. OFG is a disease that has a wide spectrum of presentation, which may include the oral manifestation of a systemic condition such as Crohn's disease, sarcoidosis, granulomatosis with polyangiitis and Melkersson-Rosenthal syndrome.

Buccal localization of Crohn's disease with long-term infliximab therapy: a case report

INTRODUCTION

Cheilitis granulomatosa causes persistent idiopathic lip swelling and ulceration and it can sometimes be recognized as a unique or early manifestation of Crohn's disease. Spontaneous remission is rare and with the lack of controlled trials, different therapeutic approaches have been used. Some cases have been treated with an exclusion diet in the attempt to rule out diet allergens, while the most popular treatments include antibiotics such as tetracycline and clofazimine tranilast, benzocaine topical or intralesional steroids, and cheiloplasty, with different outcomes.

CASE PRESENTATION

We describe the case of a 23-year-old Caucasian man, primarily diagnosed with cheilitis granulomatosa for a severe lower lip swelling, and then with Crohn's disease of the terminal ileum and anus. Treatment of Crohn's disease with an anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha agent (infliximab) successfully induced remission of both the gastrointestinal disease and the oral lesion.

CONCLUSIONS

Our recommendation is that physicians should be able to recognize cheilitis granulomatosa as a possible marker of a more complex systemic disease and proceed first with an accurate physical examination, and further suggest investigations of the bowel. In cases of Crohn's disease, a therapy with biological agents can be successful.

Metastatic Crohn's disease: a review and approach to therapy

Metastatic Crohn's disease (CD) is a rare cutaneous manifestation of CD that was first described nearly 50 years ago. Many subsequent reports have defined its most common clinical and histopathologic features. The pathogenesis underlying metastatic CD is unknown but various hypotheses exist. An established standard therapy is lacking. Owing to its rarity and nonspecific clinical presentation along with the diversity of inflammatory skin disorders that often complicate CD, the diagnosis of metastatic CD may be overlooked. This report highlights the salient features of this disorder to facilitate recognition and management of this rare dermatosis.

Intralymphatic granulomas as a pathogenic factor in cheilitis granulomatosa/Melkersson-Rosenthal syndrome: report of a case with immunohistochemical and molecular studies

Orofacial granulomatosis, an uncommon immunologically mediated disorder, includes cheilitis granulomatosa and Melkersson-Rosenthal syndrome. It is clinically characterized by recurrent or persistent swelling of the orofacial tissues with a spectrum of other orofacial features and sometimes with neurological symptoms. The pathological findings are varied but are often characterized by the presence of noncaseating granuloma. We present a new case of orofacial granulomatosis with unusual histopathological findings, namely, intralymphatic granulomas. These may be the cause of the tissue edema. We demonstrated, by immunohistochemical studies, the lymphatic nature of the vessels affected by the granulomatous process.

Orofacial granulomatosis in children--a challenge for diagnosis and treatment

The data on orofacial granulomatosis, OFG, in children are sparse. We describe here 8 pediatric patients presenting with OFG, 2 of these cases associating with Crohn's disease. Therapeutic agents included systemic immunosuppressants such as glucocorticoids, methotrexate, anti-TNF-alpha agent, dapsone, antibiotics (metronidazole), and local treatment with topical tacrolimus or intralesional injections of triamcinolone hexacetonide. The treatment response ranged from good to poor results. The number of young patients suffering from OFG is not currently known and there are no gold standards for treatment. Thus, prospective follow-up studies on these patients are needed to gain more experience of the therapeutic responses.

[Cheilitis granulomatosa as initial manifestation of Crohn's disease]

Cheilitis granulomatosa (CG) can be associated with many different disorders. A 37-year-old male patient presented with CG as an early manifestation of Crohn's disease. Patients suffering from CG need a thorough diagnostic work-up for associated or underlying diseases. Clinical follow-up examinations are necessary as CG can precede the causative diseases.

Cheilitis granulomatosa as an early manifestation of Crohn's disease

Cheilitis granulomatosa (CG) is a rare disease, which presents usually as a persistent swelling of the soft tissues in the orofacial region and is characterized histologically by a granulomatous inflammation. We report the case of a 19-year-old man who suffered from anal fistula. The patient had a 6-year history of asymptomatic and persistent swelling of the lower lip. Examinations for gastrointestinal lesions containing double-balloon total enteroscopy revealed erosions located longitudinally throughout the small intestine and the patient was diagnosed Crohn's disease (CD). Biopsy of the lower lip showed non-caseating granuloma and confirmed the diagnosis of CG. Despite an elemental diet and mesalazine therapy, the lip swelling persisted. The CG can be the first presenting symptom of CD. CG as a complication of CD is discussed.

Granulomatous rosacea and Crohn's disease in a patient homozygous for the Crohn-associated NOD2/CARD15 polymorphism R702W

NOD2/CARD15 belongs to the N-terminal caspase recruitment domain family of proteins involved in regulating NF-kB activation in response to inflammatory stimuli transduced through Toll-like receptors. Mutations and polymorphisms in the NOD2/CARD15 gene reduce antibacterial responses and are associated with granulomatous inflammatory conditions such as Blau syndrome and early-onset sarcoidosis. The polymorphism R702W (arginine to tryptophan) is strongly associated with susceptibility to Crohn's disease in Caucasian populations. Skin abnormalities (other than cutaneous manifestations of Crohn's disease) have not been previously associated with R702W. We report on a female patient homozygous for R702W who developed granulomatous rosacea at the age of 12 years old. From the occurrence in the context of Crohn associated with R702W, we speculate that granulomatous rosacea may be an entity distinct from other forms of rosacea, which are associated with increased production of antibacterial proteins such as cathelicidin.