A Rare Presentation of Chronic Exfoliative Cheilitis: Case Report.

BACKGROUND

Chronic exfoliative cheilitis is an inflammatory condition of the lips that involves exfoliation of the superficial layers of the lip with continuous peeling, ulceration, and exfoliation. Chronic exfoliative cheilitis can lead to social and psychosocial problems.

CASE PRESENTATION

A 73-year-old diabetic male presented with a lip lesion showing continuous ulceration, crusting, and peeling of the lower lip. It was a spontaneous complaint that had its onset 6 months ago and has constantly evolved. The medical history revealed controlled diabetes mellitus while the social and family histories showed no marked findings. After a careful history, clinical examination, and laboratory investigations with the exclusion of the possible etiologic factors of cheilitis, the patient was diagnosed with chronic exfoliative cheilitis with unknown etiology. Then, the patient was prescribed topical steroids, and he was advised for continuous follow-up visits.

CONCLUSION

Diagnosing chronic cheilitis is challenging and requires careful history, clinical examination, and laboratory investigation, with continuous follow-up to improve the patient's quality of life. Further research is needed to better understand and treat these cases.