Pathological manifestations and staging of hyperplastic vulvar leukoplakia

According to the differences in the pathological changes of vulvar leukoplakia, it can be divided into hyperplastic type, sclerosing lichen type and mixed type. The main pathological changes of hyperplastic vulvar leukoplakia are: hyperkeratosis or incomplete keratinization of the epidermis, thickening of the spinous cell layer, elongation of the epithelial foot, and varying degrees of lymphocyte and plasma cell infiltration in the superficial dermis. According to the symptoms of the patient, hyperplastic vulvar leukoplakia can be divided into three stages. The pain of the disease suffered by patients in different stages is also different. The typical symptoms are as follows:

1. Stage I hyperplastic type

The main symptom of patients is vulvar itching. Due to different conditions and physical constitutions, the degree of itching also varies. Some patients experience severe itching, which worsens at night. Redness, swelling or ulceration often occurs due to scratching, and there may be discomfort such as burning.

2. Stage II hyperplasia

In addition to the symptoms of stage I proliferative type, patients also experience hyperkeratosis of the skin in the lesion area and mild hypopigmentation of the local vulvar skin, which mostly appears on the inner side of the labia majora and minora in the form of dots or small white papules with a frosty surface.

3. Stage III hyperplastic type

The main manifestations are severe hyperplasia of skin keratinization, repeated shedding of the keratin layer, or redness, swelling, edema, cracking, ulceration, erosion, etc. of the vulva due to itching. The itching is accompanied by pain. Although the patient's symptoms are severe, patients at this stage can recover quickly after timely treatment.