Bullous pemphigoid in adolescence.

Area of Science:

• Dermatology
• Autoimmune Diseases
• Pediatrics

Background:

• Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is the most common autoimmune blistering disease, primarily affecting the elderly.
• Pediatric BP cases are rare, predominantly reported in early childhood.

Purpose of the Study:

• To identify and analyze Bullous pemphigoid (BP) cases in adolescence.
• To describe the clinical features and disease course of adolescent BP.

Main Methods:

• Literature search conducted on Medline using specific keywords for childhood and adolescent BP.
• Data extraction focused on early (10-13 years) and middle (14-17 years) adolescence.
• Late adolescence (18-21 years) data was limited due to inclusion in adult registries.

Main Results:

• Nine cases of BP in early adolescence were identified, with mucosal involvement in 5 cases.
• Five cases of BP in middle adolescence were identified, without mucosal involvement.
• Treatment commonly involved systemic prednisone, with varying combinations of other immunosuppressants or antibiotics; relapses were noted in both age groups.

Conclusions:

• Bullous pemphigoid (BP) in adolescence is exceptionally rare, even more so than in early childhood.
• BP should be considered in the differential diagnosis of autoimmune blistering diseases in adolescents.
• Further research is needed to fully understand BP in late adolescence.