[Noma].

A 1 4/12 years old boy after having been ill with measles developed gingivostomatitis ulcero-gangrenosa, a disease known as noma in tropical countries. This rare disease usually occurs during severe depression of the immunologic defence like with measles, malnutrition, malignant neoplasmas or chemotherapy, and is caused by a local infection with aerobic and anaerobic bacteria, which usually are part of the normal oral flora. The course of the disease is characterized by an initially edematous swelling of the face followed by ulcerations of the gingiva, progressing as an ulcerophlegmatous inflammation of the oro-facial tissue and finally causing mutilating destruction. Vigorous general and antibiotic treatment has improved the previously poor prognosis.