History of the establishment and revision of diagnostic criteria, severity index and therapeutic guidelines for pemphigus in Japan.
We summarize the process of establishing and revising the diagnostic criteria, severity index and therapeutic guidelines for pemphigus in Japan (including the results of a nationwide survey regarding these guidelines). We also summarize the content and present an evaluation of the utility of these guidelines. Due to the publication of these documents throughout the Japanese medical community, it appears that patients with pemphigus have recently begun to receive appropriate treatment, dramatically improving their quality of life and prognosis. Continuous examination of these criteria by means of follow-up studies of patients treated according to the guidelines is necessary to determine the long-term efficacy of treatment. To this end, it is hoped that these guidelines will be more extensively disseminated among the medical community.
Ikeda
Shigaku
S
Department of Dermatology, Juntendo University School of Medicine, 2-1-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, 113-8421 Tokyo, Japan. ikeda@med.juntendo.ac.jp
Imamura
Sadao
S
Hashimoto
Isao
I
Morioka
Shinji
S
Sakuma
Masahiro
M
Ogawa
Hideoki
H
D049673:History, 20th Century; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan; D010392:Pemphigus / Q000145:classification / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000266:history* / Q000628:therapy; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D012720:Severity of Illness Index