Article:

Pemphigus herpetiformis : A rare clinical variant of pemphigus

Abstract: Pemphigus herpetiformis is an autoimmune blistering disease. We report a case of pemphigus herpetiformis, a generalized form, manifested as pruritic grouped vesicles at extremities and trunk, in a seventy years old man. Neutrophil dominant inflammatory substrate was seen in histopathology. Direct immunofluorescene revealed IgG reactivity in net like pattern at upper epidermis, confirming pemphigus. The patient responded well to prednisolone and colchicine combination initially and maintained remission later on colchicine alone. Colchicine has anti-mitotic, anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive mechanism of actions and proven benefits in neutrophilic dermatoses. Therefore we recommend colchicine as mono therapy or in combination with immunosuppressive, for the treatment of pemphigus herpetiformis where neutrophil is predominant inflammatory infiltrate histologically. Keywords: Pemphigus, Herpetiform, Pruritic, Vesicles