[Wounds in autoimmune bullous dermatoses and systemic connective tissue diseases]

Autoimmune bullous dermatoses are a group of skin and/or mucous membrane diseases characterized by blisters and erosions, which are the results of autoantibodies directed to structural components of desmosomes and structural proteins of the basement membrane zone. In this group of diseases, the diagnosis is based on history, clinical presentation, histopathologic findings, findings of direct and indirect immunofluorescence, and specific evidence of circulating antibodies by the enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) method. Connective tissue diseases are a heterogeneous group of diseases with some common pathogenetic mechanisms and frequent involvement of the skin. This group of diseases commonly includes lupus erythematosus, dermatomyositis/polymyositis, localized and systemic scleroderma. As most of the diseases in this group have positive one of the antinuclear antibodies, in clinical practice these diseases are often called autoimmune connective tissue diseases. In the group of autoimmune bullous dermatoses, wounds occur as the result of breaking of blisters, and consequently affect the epidermis alone or epidermis and upper dermis, while in the group of systemic diseases of connective tissue, wounds occur in advanced stages of disease as a result of vascular tissue damage, causing necrosis of tissue and wounds. When wounds in these diseases last for a longer period (longer than 3 months), they are considered as chronic wounds and in these cases it is necessary to determine the reason for slow healing. In patients with wounds as a symptom of disease, besides systemic therapy, special attention should be paid to local therapy in order to prevent superinfection and accelerate epithelialization and wound healing.