Quart AM, Small CB, Klein RS; International Conference on AIDS.
Int Conf AIDS. 1989 Jun 4-9; 5: 471 (abstract no. Th.B.P.331).
North Central Bronx Hospital, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, USA
OBJECTIVE: To describe a newly recognized oral lesion in drug users with AIDS. METHODS: 92 consecutive drug users with AIDS underwent periodontal and oral examination by a periodontist. Destructive lesions not explicable on the basis of periodontal disease or other recognized oral pathology were noted and photographed. Patients were questioned about direct mucosal application of cocaine. RESULTS: Five patients had focal destruction of the soft and hard tissue of the labial surface of mandibular anterior teeth. Affected areas could not be attributed to adjacent periodontitis. Subjects included 3 male and 1 female intravenous drug users (IVDU) and 1 female who denied parenteral drug use and whose risk behavior for AIDS was sexual contact with an IVDU. All 5 reported at least several weeks of cocaine use by direct application to the affected areas, described as the "freeze" method of cocaine use. CONCLUSION: Drug users with AIDS who take cocaine by the "freeze" method are at risk for focal destruction of oral tissue at the site of drug application. Individuals involved in the oral care of drug users with AIDS should recognize this entity.
Publication Types:
Keywords:
- Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
- Behavior
- Cocaine
- Cocaine-Related Disorders
- Crack Cocaine
- Female
- Humans
- Male
- Resin Cements
- Substance Abuse, Intravenous
- Substance-Related Disorders
Other ID:
UI: 102178341
From Meeting Abstracts