Pemphigus vulgaris

Injury	Disease	Nutrition	Poison

Symptoms	Surgery	Test	Special Topic

Pemphigus, vulgaris on the back

Pemphigus, vulgaris - lesions in the mouth

Overview

Symptoms

Treatment

Prevention

Pemphigus vulgaris

Symptoms:

Skin lesions which may be:
- Recurrent or relapsing
- Blistering, flaccid
- Mouth or skin ulcers
- Draining, oozing, crusting
- Located on the mucous membrane of the mouth
- Located on the scalp, trunk or other skin areas
- Spreading to other skin areas
- Peeling superficially or detaching easily

Signs and tests:

Nikolsky's sign is positive -- when the surface of uninvolved skin is rubbed laterally with a cotton swab or finger, the skin separates easily.
A skin lesion biopsy shows acantholysis.
An examination of the biopsy tissue with immunofluorescence confirms pemphigus.
The Tzanck test of a smear from the base of a blister shows acantholysis.

Review Date: 7/2/2004
Reviewed By: Jonathan Kantor, M.D., Department of Dermatology, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA. Review provided by VeriMed Healthcare Network.

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