Hepatitis C virus and lichen planus

DATA SOURCES: Medline (1966-June 2003) provided the primary data source, with references from identified papers then being reviewed for additional studies. STUDY SELECTION: Studies were included if they reported prevalence of hepatitis C virus (HCV) in people who have oral lichen planus (OLP), compared clinical and histological features of OLP in patients who were or were not infected with HCV, reported presence of HVC within OLP lesions; or were studies of HCV genotypes in patients who had OLP lesions. DATA EXTRACTION AND SYNTHESIS: The available studies varied widely in design, population and distribution of confounders so could not be combined in any meaningful meta-analysis. Data were, therefore, summarised and tabulated. RESULTS: In total, 32 studies were identified, of which 14 were descriptive, reporting prevalence, and 18 were case-control. HCV prevalence varied from 0 to 62% in individuals who had OLP. OLP prevalence varied from 1.6 to 20% in HCV-infected subjects. Important biases, including selection and investigator bias were identified within the studies. CONCLUSIONS: No firm conclusions can be drawn from this review because of the diverse nature of the available studies and the biases contained therein.