Nasimi M et al 2022
A new retrospective case-control study set out to evaluate the prevalence of comorbidities in patients diagnosed with LPP and compare it with the control group. Here, the authors enrolled patients with biopsy confirmed LPP between 2013 and 2018. Unlike the Joshi et al study, the Nasimi et al study did not include the frontal fibrosing alopecia (FFA) subtype in the study. The control group consisted of patients who were visited at the cosmetic clinic who did not have LPP and were sex-, age-, and body mass index- matched with the case group.
There were 416 patients (208 LPP patients and 208 controls) in the study including 299 women (76.9% in case group). The mean age of participants was 44.8 years (47.24 years in the case group and 42.39 years in the control group). The prevalence of comorbidities among LPP patients were as following: thyroid disorders (17.3%), hypertension (12.5%), lipid profile abnormalities (41.8%), and cardiovascular disease (5.3%). The authors did not find any association between comorbidities and LPP disease duration and LPP severity.
Compared to the control group, the authors found that hypertension (35 % vs 26 %) and cardiovascular disease (22 %vs 11%) were lower in LPP and lipid abnormalities (36% vs 87%) were more common in LPP. There was no difference in rates of thyroid disease in this group.
This study adds to our growing body of literature. It differs from some studies and is similar to others. Conic et al and Joshi et al suggested that hypertension and heart disease are increased whereas Nasimi et al and other studies too suggest it is decreased. Methodology considerations may be responsible for differences. The unique thing about this study is the authors’ dedication to removing FFA patients from the study group. This is clearly important as we seek to really understand these conditions.
REFERENCES
Joshi et al. Comorbidities associated with lichen planopilaris: a case-control study using the All of Us database. Int J Dermatol. 2022 Oct 2.
Nasimi M et al. Comorbidities in Patients with Lichen Planopilaris: A Case-Control Study. Skin Appendage Disord. 2022 Jul;8(4):302-306.
Conic et al. Exploring the association between lichen planopilaris, cardiovascular and metabolic disorders. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol 2021 Nov;35(11):e826-e828.
