A case of generalized Hailey-Hailey disease with fatal liver injury

We report a case of a 59-year-old man with a severe generalized form of Hailey-Hailey disease that was complicated by fatal liver injury. Erosive lesions were first noted in the axillary and perianal regions at 15 year of age, and Hailey-Hailey disease was diagnosed based on the clinical features and histologic findings in skin biopsy specimens. The patient was treated with at first topical steroids and later a low dose of a corticosteroid, but the skin lesions gradually became generalized. At 45 years of age liver dysfunction was detected after azathioprine and vinblastine treatment for the generalized skin lesions. The liver injury gradually progressed and finally the patient died. The gene responsible for Hailey-Hailey disease was recently identified as ATP2C1, and it encodes a Ca(2+)-transport ATPase with broad expression, including in skin and liver. This finding suggests that mutation of the ATP2C1 gene may give rise to an extracutaneous phenotype, such as the liver dysfunction observed in severe cases, including our own. Further accumulation of cases is necessary to determine whether this is true.