A 10-Year Observational Study on Treatment Approaches in Pemphigus and Pemphigoid

The aim of this study was to evaluate epidemiological data on pemphigus vulgaris and pemphigoid, with special focus on characteristics, clinical manifestations, and treatment approaches.

This study includes patients who have been diagnosed with pemphigus vulgaris or pemphigoid at the Dermatology Service of the Santa Maria Local Health Unit between the years 2013 and 2022. The statistical software IBM SPSS® version 29, with Clopper-Pearson 95% confidence intervals (CI) was used for proportions.

The total number of patients included in this study is 99 patients with pemphigus vulgaris (49 females, 50 males) and 227 with pemphigoid patients (108 females, 119 males). Patients who have been treated for pemphigus vulgaris, the most prescribed medicine were corticosteroids, followed by the second most prescribed, drugs which were immunosuppressants. Additionally rituximab was used in 21 patients. The interval of the disease was 304 days; with an interval of no symptom disease was 415 days for relapsed patients. Similarly, for pemphigoid, the primary treatment used was with corticosteroids, which were also used for the main treatment, in many cases it was combined with other medicines, such as: antihistamines, antibiotics, and immunosuppressants. The average cure time was 148 days, with 32.0% of patients claiming they experienced relapse.

To conclude, we observed that corticosteroids, particularly prednisolone, remain still the most important pharmacological treatment for pemphigus vulgaris and pemphigoid. However, rituximab is an effective pharmacological alternative for pemphigus, while the use of clobetasol propionate is increasing and becoming as one of the preferred treatments for pemphigoid.