Oral pemphigoid masquerading as necrotizing ulcerative gingivitis in a child

Oral mucous membrane pemphigoid in a 6-year-old boy: diagnosis, treatment and 4 years follow-up

BACKGROUND

Childhood oral pemphigoid is extremely rare and usually takes the form of desquamative gingivitis.

CASE REPORT

We describe a 6-year-old boy who presented with gingival bleeding, pain, eating difficulty, and peeling of the gums. Clinical examination revealed desquamative gingivitis with no extra-oral involvement. The diagnosis was established as oral pemphigoid based on the clinical, histological, and immunofluorescence findings. Symptoms resolved on treatment with occlusive topical corticosteroids. The patient was a carrier of the HLA-DQB(1)*0301 allele.

CONCLUSION

Mucous membrane pemphigoid should be considered in the differential diagnosis of chronic desquamative gingivitis in childhood. Occlusive therapy with topical fluocinonide may alleviate the symptoms.

Cicatricial pemphigoid with severe gingival and laryngeal involvement in an 18-year-old female

Cicatricial pemphigoid (CP), also known as mucous membrane pemphigoid, is an autoimmune vesiculobullous disease occurring mostly in elderly people and seldom occurring in individuals under the age of 20 years. It predominantly affects the mucosal surfaces, primarily the oral and conjunctival mucosa. Uncommonly, the upper aerodigestive tract is involved, which can lead to life-threatening complications. We present the case of an 18-year-old girl with desquamative gingivitis and severe laryngeal webbing and stenosis, caused by cicatricial pemphigoid. Airway management necessitated a tracheostomy and additional surgical procedure. The clinical, diagnostic, and therapeutic features of this disease are discussed, focusing on the oral and unique laryngeal manifestations.

Successful treatment of mucous membrane pemphigoid with tacrolimus

Mucous membrane pemphigoid (MMP) is a heterogeneous group of autoimmune, chronic inflammatory ubepithelial vesiculobullous disorders, predominantly affects the mucous membranes of the oral cavity and eyes of the elderly population. Oral manifestations of pemphigoid include desquamative gingivitis, ulcers, erythematous patches, erosions, vesicles and bullae located on the attached gingiva, palate, buccal mucosa, labial mucosa, and tongue. Diagnosis is based on history, clinical features and a biopsy stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E), and also direct and indirect immunofluorescence. Topical and systemic corticosteroids are the most commonly used medications for managing pemphigoid. Recently, topical tacrolimus has been successfully used in the treatment of ocular and skin pemphigoid. In this report we present a patient with longterm recalcitrant MMP that did not respond to conventional treatment but as treated successfully with tacrolimus ointment.

Number III Mucous membrane pemphigoid

Mucous membrane pemphigoid (MMP) is a sub-epithelial vesiculobullous disorder. It is now quite evident that a number of sub-epithelial vesiculobullous disorders may produce similar clinical pictures, and also that a range of variants of MMP exist, with antibodies directed against various hemidesmosomal components or components of the epithelial basement membrane. The term immune-mediated sub-epithelial blistering diseases (IMSEBD) has therefore been used. Immunological differences may account for the significant differences in their clinical presentation and responses to therapy, but unfortunately data on this are few. The diagnosis and management of IMSEBD on clinical grounds alone is impossible and a full history, general, and oral examination, and biopsy with immunostaining are now invariably required, sometimes supplemented with other investigations. No single treatment regimen reliably controls all these disorders, and it is not known if the specific subsets of MMP will respond to different drugs. Currently, apart from improving oral hygiene, immunomodulatory-especially immunosuppressive-therapy is typically used to control oral lesions. The present paper reviews pemphigoid, describing the present understanding of this fascinating clinical phenotype, summarising the increasing number of subsets with sometimes-different natural histories and immunological features, and outlining current clinical practice.

A clinical study of oral mucous membrane pemphigoid

We present 13 cases of oral mucous membrane pemphigoid (MMP) and review the literature. The cases were retrieved from the archives of Ondokuz Mayis University and Gülhane Military Medical Academy, Turkey, between 1997 and 2002. Inclusion criteria were clinical findings of oral MMP verified by histological and immunofluorescent examination. Thirteen patients (two males and 11 females), aged 16-72 years, were identified. Involvement was confined to the mouth in all cases except one, in which the conjunctiva was also affected. Two individuals in the study were < 20 years old, an age group rarely affected. The oral mucosa is often the initial site of MMP lesions, so it is important that dentists as well as physicians are aware of the symptoms and signs. A swift diagnosis, made in consultation with other specialists such as ophthalmologists and dermatologists, is needed in order to prevent a delay in treatment.