Pemphigus vulgaris: gingival involvement. A case report

Pemphigus is an autoimmune disease in which intraepithelial vesicles and bullae of the skin and oral mucosa are produced by the action of autoantibodies against specific desmosomal proteins of squamous epithelium. Usually, oral lesions will appear before skin lesions, and in a majority of the cases only oral lesions are present. The dentist may then be the first to make and early diagnosis. The importance of this case report is to alert the dentist that subtle gingival lesions can be recognized and treated early in such a life-threatening disease. Diagnosis is based on the clinical presentation and confirmed by histologic study and direct immunofluorescence. This case describes the clinical signs, symptoms, histology, and immunofluorescence of pemphigus vulgaris of the gingiva.