Increased Epulis Gravidarum Prevalence in Women with Both Nasal and Oral Symptoms.
Hormonal variations during pregnancy are frequently linked with functional mucosal alterations both at oral and nasal level. Clinical manifestations of this mucosal involvement can be described generally as pregnancy rhinitis and pregnancy stomatitis and gingivitis.
The sexual hormones produced during pregnancy have an important role in the development of rhinitis and gingivitis. Epulis gravidarum affects about 5-10% of pregnant, being defined as a hyperplastic and inflammatory lesion which origins from the buccal mucosa and mainly from gingival tissues.
To define whether the coexistence of nasal and oral symptoms should be considered as a major risk factor for the development of epulis gravidarum. Hormonal variations during pregnancy are frequently linked with functional mucosal alterations both at oral and nasal level.
Although a specific pathophysiological mechanism responsible of this correlation has not yet been defined, an important role is likely played by increasing plasma sex steroid hormone levels during pregnancy, whose effect on periodontium and on nasal mucosa is well demonstrated. Recent researches have shown that increasing blood levels of oestrogen and progesterone during pregnancy are responsible for the gingivitis progression.
Accordingly, rhinitis may be caused by several substances and hormones secreted during pregnancy (porcine growth hormone (PGH), vasoactive
intestinal polypeptide (VIP), oestrogen, progesterone), leading to
changes in the nasal mucosa.
However, in most cases, these alterations are reversible at the end of the pregnancy. Clinical manifestations of this mucosal involvement can be described generally as pregnancy rhinitis and pregnancy stomatitis and gingivitis.
The aim of our study was to verify if the concomitant presence of pregnancy rhinitis and gum disorders increases the risk of epulis development during pregnancy.
Otolaryngol Open J. 2019; 5(1): 18-21. doi: 10.17140/OTLOJ-5-154