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Woman's teeth vanish as killer disease disfigures her smile

A woman has been diagnosed with a rare disease causing her gums to swell giving them a strawberry-like appearance.

The woman, 42, presented herself to a dermatology clinic with a six-week history of rapidly progressive, painful gingival hyperplasia, according to the case published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Gingival hyperplasia is when gum tissue over-grows around the teeth and it’s normally a symptom of poor dental hygiene.

Dr Maryam Ghiasi of Tehran University of Medical Sciences in Iran wrote the woman had “recurrent epistaxis, and three necrotic ulcers had developed on her face over the previous four weeks”.

A 42-year-old woman was diagnosed with granulomatosis with polyangiitis. It’s a disorder which causes blood vessels to inflame. Source: New England Journal of Medicine
A 42-year-old woman was diagnosed with granulomatosis with polyangiitis. It’s a disorder which causes blood vessels to inflame. Source: New England Journal of Medicine

Epistaxis is when the nosebleeds.

“An oral examination revealed gingival hyperplasia with a granular and hemorrhagic appearance typical of ‘strawberry gingivitis’,” Dr Ghiasi wrote.

A CT scan of the 42-year-old’s head and chest found no issues with her sinuses but “multiple pulmonary nodules” in her lungs.

She was diagnosed with granulomatosis with polyangiitis. It’s a rare disorder which causes blood vessels to inflame in the nose, sinuses, throat, lungs and kidneys.

“Strawberry gingivitis is a rare manifestation of granulomatosis with polyangiitis, and its clinical presentation is highly suggestive of the disease,” Dr Ghiasi wrote.

The woman was prescribed medication but never showed for her follow-up appointment. It’s not known how her condition progressed or if she sought further treatment.

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