Oral paracoccidioidomycosis: Retrospective analysis of 55 Brazilian patients.

Paracoccidioidomycosis (PCM) is a rare fungal infection in the world, but endemic and acquired exclusively in Latin America, with the highest prevalence in South America and Brazil, particularly. Changes in oral cavity are common and constitute the first clinical manifestation in many patients. The aim of this study was to describe the prevalence of oral PCM and analyse the profile of the disease and patients. Retrospective research, consisting of information present in the medical records in the period 1998-2015, whose histopathological diagnosis was oral PCM. Fifty-five oral PCM cases were confirmed. Of these patients, 90.9% were males and 9.1% were females. The average age was 49.66 years and the most reported occupation was rural workers. The painful symptomatology was present in 61.82% of patients. Erythematous lesions were predominant in 73% of them. In single lesions (22 cases), the most common locations were jugal mucosa and tongue. In multiple involvement (30 cases), the most affected regions were lips, jugal mucosa and alveolar ridge. Epidemiology of PCM, was similar to several other studies, especially in Brazil. This is the most important fungal infection in Latin America and the recognition of oral lesions is extremely important, as is often the first and in many cases the only manifestation of the disease.