TYPES OF PEMPHIGUS
Pemphigus is usually classified as: (a) acute, (b) chronic, (c) foliaceus and (d) vegetans. Acute pemphigus includes the septic, and usually rapidly fatal, cases and the postvaccinal ones; the chronic is identical with pemphigus vulgaris, and the foliaceus and vegetans groups are differentiated by their well-known characteristics.As regards the prognosis and treatment of the various groups, a review of the opinions of some authorities is of interest, and besides has a direct bearing on our paper.
(a) Acute Pemphigus.—
Hardaway, Stelwagon, Hartzell, Darier, Pusey, Grindon and Ormsby regard the outlook as grave—usually fatal. Stelwagon says that patients with acute cases that recover usually have not true pemphigus, although an acute case may become a chronic one, but he believes that patients with cases of all types unattended by fever or constitutional symptoms get well, a statement which (it seems to us) means that patients with mild