[Vulvovaginogingival syndrome. New characteristic grouping of plurimucous erosive lichen planus].

The triple association of a chronic painful erosive vulvitis, an erosive or desquamative vaginitis and an erosive vestibular gingivitis constitutes a hitherto unreported syndrome. The first 19 cases of this affection seen in the Hôpital Tarnier over the last three years are presented and analyzed, the etiology of these erosive mucosal lesions, limited to three body regions, being lichen planus in each case. Detection of mucosal erosion at one of these three sites now requires clinical investigation of the other two, and biopsy of least one of them from the edge of an eroded zone, as well as search for other-possible mucocutaneous areas of lichen planus. Clinical onset is often asynchronous, one lesion appearing before the others, the simplest to recognize being gingival erosive lichen. In one case, however, peri-erosive lamellar detachments suggested chronic desquamative gingivitis of possible benign pemphigoid origin. Erosive lichen planus of vulva and vagina has not been reported previously. Knowledge of this syndrome allows correlation between lichen planus and certain cases of erosive gingivitis, erythroplastic vulvitis and desquamative vaginitis.