Three-year observation of the patients with bullous pemphigoid: 29 cases

Background and Design: Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is a chronic, autoimmune, subepidermal blistering skin disease. The aim of this study was to determine the clinico-epidemiological characteristics of patients diagnosed with BP in our clinic and to compare the results with those in other studies in our country and in the world. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively evaluated medical records of patients with BP diagnosed by clinical and histopathological examinations in our clinic from January 2009 to January 2013. We evaluated data on demographic characteristics, age, sex, existence of oral mucosal lesions, association of pruritus, duration of the disease, presence of triggering factors, features of the skin lesions, results of direct immunofluorescence (DIF) investigations, drug intake, recurrence and mortality rates and causes of de-tected mortality in all patients. Results: Of the 29 patients included in the study, %48.3 were female, %51.7 were male. The average age was 70.17 years and the mean duration of the disease was 15.41 months. We detected oral mucosal involvement in five cases, and pruritus in 24 patients. Drugs use in three cases and malinity in one patient were considered be be an trigger factor. The results of DIF investigation revealed linear IgG and C3 deposition at the dermoepidermal junction in 12 cases and C3 deposition in 10 cases. The initial treatment was topical corticosteroid in 11, tetracycline and nicotinamide combination in six and systemic corticosteroid in 10 individuals. After initial therapy, recurrence appeared in 7 patients within one year. Mortality during hospitalization was observed in 2 cases. Conclusion: We presented the clinical and epidemiological features of patients diagnosed with BP in our clinics in the past three years. Considering the presence of different ethnic groups and population heterogenity in our city, we believe that our investigation will contribute to our understanding of the epidemiology of BP in our country. Nevertheless, prospective, long-term and large population-based multicenter studies are needed.