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Four patients with pemphigus erythematosus were discussed as a group.
Pemphigus Erythematosus. Presented by Dr. Harry J. Hurley and Dr. William A. Caro.
The patient, an obese 45-year-old Negro woman, gave a complicated medical history which included rheumatic fever at age 14, pneumonia, bronchial asthma, diabetes mellitus, thrombophlebitis, duodenal ulcer, hysterectomy in 1948, ventral herniorrhaphy in 1958, and viral hepatitis in 1960.The onset of a pruritic vesicular skin disease occurred in 1960 and initially involved the back, chest, neck, arms, and buttocks. There have been subsequent flares and remissions, but the eruption has never cleared completely. The lesions heal with hyperpigmentation.
Dermatological Examination.—
Most of the body is covered by small flaccid bullae and lesions in various stages of crusting, erosion, and hyperpigmentation. The lesions are most pronounced on the chest, back, buttocks, and extremities. There are no oral lesions.
Laboratory Data.—
Laboratory studies disclosed the following values: hemoglobin, 14.1 gm/100 cc; white blood cells, 3,800 with 39% neutrophils, 59% lymphocytes, 2% monocytes, and 1% basophils; bilirubin, 0.5 mg/100 cc; blood urea nitrogen, 14