Cutaneous small-vessel vasculitis with unexpected circulating and in situ bound pemphigus autoantibodies

Pemphigus or pemphigus-related autoantibodies have been found in sera of patients with diverse diseases, such as toxic epidermal necrolysis, thermal burns, and penicillin reactions. Here we report a patient with a typical cutaneous necrotizing vasculitis in whom immunofluorescence studies revealed the presence of circulating and tissue-bound pemphigus autoantibodies.