Gender, clinical and topographic features of the localized scleroderma lesions in anogenital area
Background: Currently, there is an increase in the number of skin lesions of anogenital localization, which is a silent epidemic, both due to the steady increase in the incidence of this pathology, and the interdisciplinary aspect of this problem. Materials and methods: In the article, the authors first analyzed and presented the data of clinical and morphological analysis of 104 patients with various clinical variants of limited scleroderma, on the basis of which the main phenotypic and gender-specific clinical and topographical features of anogenital zone lesions in this group of patients are presented. Results: Scleroatrophic lichen is one of the clinical variants of limited scleroderma, which is characterized by damage to the mucous membranes of the external genitals in both women and men. Lesions of such localization are late and often mistakenly diagnosed by specialists of related disciplines (obstetricians, gynecologists, urologists, family doctors, allergists, cosmetologists), which leads to high risks of developing genitourenal syndrome. Conclusions: The development of scleroatrophic lesions in the anogenital zone is accompanied by pronounced clinical symptoms, including: itching, pain of varying intensity, dysuria, dyspareunia and significant sexual dysfunction.