Introduction
Bullous pemphigoid is an autoimmune disorder that causes clear, fluid filled blisters on the skin or in the oral mucosa. It is known as a classical autoimmune disease among the ever growing spectrum of autoimmune diseases. It is usually a disease that affects the elderly, with onset at about 55-85 years of age. Since the onset is usually seen in the elderly it is very rare that an infant will contract the disease. Infants, however, can contract the disease through shared antibodies via the placenta with the mother. If an infant is born with manifestations of the disease, he/she will recover as soon as the maternal antibodies have disappeared.
Trends and Barriers
There is not a tremendous amount of information on the epidemiology of BP. Some studies have shown that there is a 0.2 and 3.0 occurrence in 100,000 people per year. However, BP is the most common form of immunobullous disease in Western Europe with 43 million cases per year in the U.K. There have been 7-13 million cases reported per year in other parts of Europe. There seems to be no link with sex or race with this disease. Some studies have shown that there is a link between BP and other autoimmune disorders such as diabetes, anemia, lichen planus and …show more content…
Bullous Pemphigoid is the most commonly occurring pemphigoid disease, although oral manifestations are less likely to occur. There are specific cellular markers that will differentiate the epidermal and mucosal forms of this disease. Finger pressure to the blister will cause it to burst, leading to the spread of the disease. The blisters can be localized to one spot on the body (oral mucosa), or generalized and cover large portions of the body. BP can be indicated with with an incisional biopsy of the blister, but an immunofluorescence study is needed for definitive