Pemphigus Vulgaris Treatment

Dr. Wendy Levinbook, MD discusses Pemphigus Vulgaris Treatment. See more at http://www.dermnet.com PLEASE RATE AND COMMENT!!!
Therapy is aimed at reducing antibody synthesis. Unlike disorders such as bullous pemphigoid or dermatitis herpetiformis where there is a large inflammatory component in addition to the immune

component, anti-inflammatory drugs have no known benefit in the treatment of pemphigus vulgaris. It is generally agreed that patients with only limited initial disease need as much intensive

therapy to induce a remission as patients with extensive involvement.




Prednisone is the standard initial therapy unless contraindicated. Most patients obtain a complete or almost complete

clinical remission within 8 to 10 weeks and then the dose can be tapered gradually. Low doses are then maintained for several years. Other immunosuppressive drugs such as azathioprine or

cyclophosphamide may be added if prednisone fails to induce a remission or if the patient develops serious corticosteroid complications. Mycophenolate mofetil, methotrexate, and cyclosporin are

added to prednisone as adjuvant therapies less frequently. Other treatments that have been utilized include intravenous pulse methylprednisolone, intravenous pulse cyclophosphamide, adjuvant

intravenous gammaglobulin, immunoablative intravenous cyclophasphamide without stem cell rescue, intramuscular gold, and extracorporeal photochemotherapy.




Death formerly occurred in almost all

cases. However, with the development of immunosuppressive therapy, the mortality rate of PV is now approximately 6%. Infection is often the cause of death and immunosuppressive therapy is

typically a contributing factor. Most deaths occur within the first few years of disease onset. If the patient survives greater than five years after the inception of disease, the patient's

outcome is usually excellent.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• Pemphigus
• Vulgaris
• Treatment
• Cure

[hotathlete2]

@mschase74 I'm not dr Levin but I too am inflicted with this awful disease. I've had mouth ulcers for over 3 months and they're still there & on my tongue as well. The pain isn't as bad as it was, but it still hurts when I eat.

I can feel my body taken over again, thank God whereas just over a month ago it almost disabled me & I lost about a quarter of my body weight. Tell your uncle not to let it take over his life, he should go back to what he was eating & doing before. I'm back in the gym.

[mschase74]

Thank you Dr. Levin! My favorite uncle who happens to be of African American descent has been diagnosed with this awful disease. He is located in Van Nuys California. From all I have researched this disease mostly affects Jews & mediterranean descent people. His case has gotten really bad because it took over two months to get a proper diagnosis and it appears that steroids are helping all areas but the top of his head. If you can lend your expertise in this case or point us in the right direc