Medicine
Volume 37, Issue 6 , Pages 291-297, June 2009

Autoimmune and other blistering diseases

Kathy Taghipour MBBS MRCP is a Specialist Registrar in the Oxford Deanery, Oxford, UK. Competing interests: none declared

Fenella Wojnarowska MA DM FRCP is Professor of Dermatology at the University of Oxford and Consultant Dermatologist at the Oxford Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK. Competing interests: none declared

Abstract 

There is a wide range of conditions associated with blisters (bullae) and it is important to identify the cause in each patient. If an autoimmune cause or epidemolysis bullosa is suspected, a biopsy will be required to determine whether the bulla is intra-epidermal or subepidermal. The diagnostic gold standard for autoimmune diseases is immunofluorescence which enables detection of autoantibodies and their location.

Keywords: basement membrane zone, dermatitis herpetiformis, desmosome, epidermolysis bullosa, hemidesmosome, immunobullous, immunofluorescence, linear IgA, pemphigoid, pemphigus

To access this article, please choose from the options below

Login to an existing account or Register a new account.

  • Purchase this article for 31.50 USD (You must login/register to purchase this article)

    Online access for 24 hours. The PDF version can be downloaded as your permanent record.

  • Subscribe to this title

    Get unlimited online access to this article and all other articles in this title 24/7 for one year.

  • Claim access now

    For current subscribers with Society Membership or Account Number.

  • Visit SciVerse ScienceDirect to see if you have access via your institution.
 
  • 1 Examination of the whole body is essential.

PII: S1357-3039(09)00062-0

doi:10.1016/j.mpmed.2009.02.011

Medicine
Volume 37, Issue 6 , Pages 291-297, June 2009

Article Tools

* Image Usage & Resolution