Science: itchy vulvar leukoplakia

  Vulvar pemphigoid, also known as vulvar sclerosing lichen planus, is characterized by atrophy and thinning of the skin of the vulva and the perineum, and is more commonly known as vulvar pemphigoid because the most prominent manifestation is the whitening of the vulva and surrounding skin, forming skin changes similar to albinism.  In addition to the whitening of the vulva and the surrounding skin, patients often have discomfort such as itching in the lesioned area, painful intercourse and burning sensation in the vulva, and in addition to the whitening of the skin, the skin is usually accompanied by shiny, wrinkled, less elastic and easily cracked or peeling.  Such a disease usually occurs in women around 40 years of age, but a number of cases have been reported in young girls.  In some cases of hyperplastic vulvar skin with localized skin thickening, a biopsy is often needed to rule out malignant vulvar disease.  The first treatment is the simplest general treatment, which is to keep the vulva clean and dry, wear loose and breathable cotton underwear, abstain from eating allergic substances, and if the itching seriously affects the sleep, it can also be used with sleep-aiding drugs.  Targeted treatment is mainly the local use of hormones, including testosterone propionate or progesterone, whose effect is mainly to help restore the normal state of the atrophied skin by replenishing the lack of sex hormones, but the application of hormones can also have some side effects, such as increased hair and other masculine effects. Another form of treatment is the use of immunotherapy, which suppresses the lesions caused by self-collagen-fiber antibodies through the use of immunosuppressive agents.  Laser, as a common tool for dermatologists, also has good results in the treatment of vulvar leukoplakia. Its principle is also to destroy the local skin tissue and induce its regeneration and repair, which has the advantages of simple operation, less damage and less scarring after healing.  High-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) has also been applied to the treatment of vulvar leukoplakia in recent years. The principle of HIFU is to make ultrasonic waves act directly on the nerve endings in the dermis through the epidermis to denature them and promote the regeneration of local blood vessels and nerves, thus its relief of itching and other symptoms is more obvious.  For cases where all means fail to relieve the symptoms, another way is to perform superficial vulvar excision and transplant new skin, but post-operative follow-up shows that recurrence can occur even on the excised edge of the transplanted skin, and the chance of vulvar leukoplakia malignancy is extremely low, so surgical treatment is hardly used nowadays.