Definition:
Pemphigus is a medical condition used to describe a vesiculobullous disease affecting the skin and the mucous membranes which then causes vesicles or blisters, raw sores, and bullae. An autoimmune disease which is caused when the body's immune system mistook its own tissues to be a foreign tissue and destroys it. Antibodies attacking his very own cells are autoantibodies. The target of the autoantibodies in the pemphigus condition is the desmoglein which is a form of protein. Desmoglein is the "glue" attaching some epidermal cells adjacent to each other by the desmosomes.
Diagnosis:
Pemphigus is easily determined and diagnosed by a dermatologist basing from the extent of the lesions' appareance as well as the distribution. Diagnosis will require examination of skin sample that must be done by a dermatopathologist. The sample is taken from the blister edge which is then prepared for histopathology. It is then examined under the microscope. Definitive diagnosis will also require anti-desmoglein autoantibodies demonstration via a direct immunofluorescence focused on the skin sample. It can also be diagnosed using a sample of the patient's blood sample through the use of the ELISA technique.
Treatment:
In most cases, treatment for Pemphigus is done by administering oral steroids such as prednisone. In severe cases though, intravenous gamma globulin is found to be effective. Some mild cases respond to topical steroids. A powerful cocktail combination of immune suppressant drugs is at times used to halt rapid bronchiolitis obliterans progression. The cocktail includes azathioprine, solumedrol, thalidomide, and ciclosporin. Plasmapheresis can be useful too.
Symptoms and Signs:
Symtoms of pemphigus usually appears as lesions or blisters scattered throughout the patients' skin.
Causes:
In some cases, Pemphigus condition was believed to be caused by medications like Penicillamine.
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