Scalp Involvement in Pemphigus: A Prognostic Marker
January 2018
in “
Advances in Dermatology and Allergology
”
TLDR Scalp involvement in pemphigus means the disease is more severe and harder to treat.
Scalp involvement in pemphigus was observed in 65.2% of patients with pemphigus vulgaris and 96.6% of patients with pemphigus foliaceus. The study of 75 patients found that scalp involvement correlated with higher disease severity (r = 0.7, p < 0.05), longer time to achieve complete clinical remission (39.1 ±47.1 months vs. 9.1 ±7.8 months), and shorter duration of remission (14.1 ±17.4 months vs. 105.7 ±108.8 months). Additionally, patients with scalp involvement had higher concentrations of anti-desmoglein 1 autoantibodies (109.9 ±68.0 U/ml vs. 21.3 ±39.4 U/ml). These findings suggested that scalp involvement in pemphigus indicated a need for a more aggressive therapeutic approach.
