[Immunoglobulin deposits in vascular walls in cutaneous lupus erythematosus. Immunofluorescence study]

This paper reports an immunofluorescence (IF) study of the skin of 16 patients with chronic discoid localised lupus erythematosus and 5 patients with cutaneous disseminated lupus erythematosus. In the majority of the cases (18), we have found immunoglobulin and complement deposits not only along the dermoepidermal junction, but also in the blood vessel walls. In these deposits there was a predominance of IgM. It appears that an immune complex vasculitis in the skin can be found in patients from the entire lupus erythematosus spectrum. The discovery of immunoglobulins and complement deposits in the blood vessel walls of the involved skin of patients with discoid lupus erythematosus, suggests that it can be considered as an important (and even characteristic) feature of the disease.