Destructive Membranous Periodontal Disease (Ligneous Gingivitis): A Literature Review.

Introduction: Destructive membranous periodontal disease, or ligneous gingivitis, is a rare condition involving nodular gingival enlargement with ulceration and periodontal tissue destruction. This review gives a brief account of the cases reported in the literature. An effort is also made to define the periodontal disease caused by plasminogen deficiency with a view to its potential inclusion in the classification of periodontal diseases. Materials and methods: A Medline-PubMed and manual search was conducted to find papers describing at least one case of ligneous disease involving the oral mucosa. Results: We identified 23 articles reporting 35 cases. For each patient, we analyzed various characteristics, including: age, gender, age of onset, oral symptoms, histological features, plasma plasminogen levels (functional activity, plasma antigen), genetic features, treatment, and results of treatment during the reported follow-up. Conclusions: Ligneous gingivitis is a rare periodontal disorder closely associated with ligneous conjunctivitis and plasminogen deficiency. Its diagnosis may be supported by the finding of genetic mutations responsible for the condition. Research is focusing on the future development of an effective therapy capable of arresting the disease's destructive evolution. Further studies, investigating features such as pocket depth and attachment loss, are needed for the appropriate classification of these periodontal diseases.