Shikhir Malhotra, Nihal Adriel Gomes, Shivakumar Patil, Faizah Raju Beg, Mariah Adora Gomes
BACKGROUND Autoimmune blistering diseases are caused by autoantibodies which act against the target antigens present in the dermoepidermal junction. Immunofluorescence studies are considered as the most important diagnostic tool in the diagnosis of autoimmune blistering disease. Supplementing it with the clinical and histopathological diagnosis helps in arriving at the accurate diagnosis and management of autoimmune blistering disease. MATERIALS AND METHODS The study includes various autoimmune blistering diseases diagnosed by clinical, histopathological and direct immunofluorescence (DIF) pattern over a period of 5 years from January 2011 to December 2015. RESULTS Male to female ratio was 1: 1.54. Pemphigus vulgaris was the most common (59%), followed by bullous pemphigoid which was seen in 25% of the cases. Chronic bullous disease of childhood, pemphigus foliaceous and lichen planus pemphigoides constituted 8%, 6% and 2% of the cases respectively. CONCLUSION Direct immunofluorescence (DIF) pattern is important in histopathological investigation and helps in reaching confirmatory diagnosis of autoimmune blistering disease.
