The use of antimicrobial photodynamic therapy in oral injuries of a pediatric patient with myelodysplastic syndrome: case report

AIM

To report a case of a pediatric patient carrier of myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) with severe oral infectious disease, in which antimicrobial photodynamic therapy (aPDT) was used as a therapeutic choice to support systemic treatment.

METHODS AND RESULTS

This case report refers to a 1-year-old male patient with MDS and hospitalized for investigation and treatment of complications at a Pediatric Oncology and Hematology Center in Recife/PE, Brazil. The intraoral examination revealed a violaceous lesion surrounding the lower incisor teeth, which progressed with alteration of color to milky yellowish white, compromising the entire lower gingival border, leading to tooth mobility and consequent loss of teeth 71 and 81. The patient was treated under systemic antimicrobial therapy and aPDT was also performed, using a photosensitizing agent (methylene blue, 0.01%) and a low-intensity laser in the visible red spectrum. Oral clinical improvement was observed, but the patient died after 45 days of hospitalization in the Pediatric ICU due to other systemic complications.

CONCLUSION

MDS may present limiting oral repercussions interfering in patients' quality of life. The aPDT is presented as an adjuvant therapeutic modality in oral infections with satisfactory results.