Repeated mouth ulcers to be on the alert for “leukoarthrosis”

Xiao Wang is 30 years old and has had recurring mouth ulcers for three or four years, each attack is painful and very painful, and often goes to the stomatology or gastroenterology department, and often gets better after a few days after symptomatic treatment, but then relapses after a period of time. Later, he talked with a doctor friend and found that he had ulcers at the penis and subcutaneous nodular erythema in addition to oral ulcers, so he was recommended to consult the rheumatology department, and after detailed examination by the doctor, he was finally diagnosed with leukoaraiosis. The rheumatology department of the First Affiliated Hospital of Henan College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Li Songwei, also known as Behçet’s disease, is a chronic inflammatory disease involving multiple systems with oral ulcers, vulvar ulcers, ophthalmia and skin damage as the main clinical features, also known as “oral-ocular-genital syndrome”, most common in young adults. The exact cause of the disease is unknown, but available data suggest that environmental and genetic factors are closely related to the occurrence and development of the disease. The pathogenesis involves both cellular and humoral immunity, and the main case is characterized by nonspecific vasculitis (including veins, arteries and capillaries of various sizes). Inflammation can involve the entire vessel wall, forming restrictive stenoses and aneurysms, resulting in tissue degeneration and decreased function due to ischemia. 98% of patients with leukoaraiosis have oral ulcers as the first symptom, which can occur in multiple sites with recurrent episodes of severe pain and interfere with eating. In addition to oral ulcers, vulvar ulcers can also be present, commonly on the labia majora and minora in women, followed by the vagina; in men, the scrotum and penis are predominant, and can also appear around the perineum or anus. Next are skin lesions, often with manifestations such as erythema nodosum, acne-like folliculitis, and superficial embolic phlebitis. Some patients may also develop ophthalmia, such as uveitis (also known as uveitis), where the eyes are red, swollen, painful, and blurred, and repeated episodes may cause visual impairment or even blindness, with more male patients having combined ophthalmia than females. Repeated attacks of leukoaraiosis, if not treated in time, can involve the digestive system, nervous system, blood vessels, etc., involving the digestive system, also known as “intestinal leukoaraiosis”, can appear abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, abdominal distension, poor appetite, serious ulcer bleeding, intestinal paralysis, intestinal perforation, peritonitis, fistula formation, esophageal stenosis, etc.; involving the nervous system, also known as “neurological leukoaraiosis”. The involvement of the nervous system, also known as “neuroleukopenia”, can lead to meningitis, encephalitis, myelitis, etc., headache, numbness and weakness of the limbs, and in severe cases, convulsions; the involvement of blood vessels can lead to pulmonary embolism, venous thrombosis, aneurysm, aneurysm rupture and bleeding, which can be life-threatening. Therefore, if there are recurrent mouth ulcers, do not take it lightly, but go to the hospital to rule out whether it is leukoaraiosis. Currently, Western medicine mainly treats the disease with glucocorticoids and immunosuppressants, and then target treatment when different organs are involved. The disease is called “fox confusion” in Chinese medicine, which is related to dampness, heat, toxicity and stasis. In clinical practice, we can control the symptoms and reduce the recurrence of the disease by treating both the symptoms and the root cause with comprehensive treatment such as clearing heat and eliminating dampness, detoxifying and resolving blood stasis. In our clinic, we tend to use western medicine mainly and Chinese medicine as a supplement to control the disease and improve the symptoms in the acute stage of heavy disease; when it enters remission, we gradually stop using western medicine and use Chinese medicine mainly to consolidate the efficacy and avoid recurrence.