Case for diagnosis

Spectrum of autoimmune bullous diseases among children in Kuwait

BACKGROUND

Autoimmune bullous diseases (AIBD) are rare among children. The data describing the overall spectrum and prognosis of pediatric AIBD (pAIBD) are scarce, and there are no established treatment guidelines.

OBJECTIVES

The present study examined the spectrum, clinical characteristics, and long-term prognosis of pAIBD in a tertiary care pediatric dermatology unit.

METHODS

Retrospective records of all pAIBD cases (<18 years) registered over a span of 28 years were analyzed.

RESULTS

Records of 23 cases of pAIBD, including 16 boys and 7 girls, were reviewed. They constituted 8.5% of total AIBD patients from all age groups. Ninety-one percent of patients were of Arab ethnicity. Linear IgA bullous dermatosis was the most prevalent AIBD followed by bullous pemphigoid, bullous lupus erythematosus, and pemphigus variants (pyostomatitis-pyodermatitis vegetans and neonatal pemphigus). The mean age of onset and diagnosis was 6.4 and 7.7 years, respectively. Systemic treatments, including systemic corticosteroids and dapsone, were required in most cases. Intravenous immunoglobulin G (IVIG) was also utilized as second-line therapy. The mean follow-up period was 76 months with 90% of the patients in complete remission.

CONCLUSIONS

AIBD pose a great challenge among children both in diagnosis and treatment. This study highlights the ethnic variability and underscores the need for additional similar, international studies to achieve a better understanding of the burden related to pAIBD and help establish treatment guidelines.

Pyostomatitis vegetans in a pediatric patient with ulcerative colitis: case report of a rare pediatric inflammatory bowel disease extraintestinal manifestation and review of the literature

Inflammatory bowel diseases can occur with a wide range of extraintestinal symptoms, among which pyostomatitis vegetans, that is a rare but almost pathognomonic finding. We report the case of a 9-year-old female patient affected by ulcerative colitis and recently treated for an oral candidiasis, who experienced a relapse in her ulcerative colitis (PUCAI 50), preceded by the return of whitish lesions in the oral cavity, initially misdiagnosed and unsuccessfully treated as candidiasis and then recognized as pyostomatitis vegetans. Bloody diarrhea was treated with oral beclomethasone, with rapid remission of ulcerative colitis and disappearance of pyostomatitis vegetans. After 2 years, ulcerative colitis is in sustained remission with oral mesalamine and pyostomatitis vegetans has not recurred. Pyostomatitis vegetans is considered a marker of ulcerative colitis relapse among adult population, and although very few pediatric cases are described, it is very important to remember it in the differential diagnosis of the oral manifestations and comorbidities of inflammatory bowel diseases.