Clinicopathological features and HLA tissue typing in pemphigoid gestationis patients in Kuwait.
Pemphigoid gestationis (PG) is a rare autoimmune disease of pregnancy. We report a series of 22 cases of PG in Kuwait. They constituted 18% of all the autoimmune bullous diseases registered in our centre over a span of 11 years. PG was observed to be the third most common bullous disease in our region. Ninety-five per cent of the patients were of Arab ethnicity. The clinical features observed in our patients were comparable to those reported elsewhere. Systemic steroids (prednisolone 20-60 mg daily) remained the mainstay of treatment to control the active disease and an optimal dose of 20 mg of prednisolone was maintained throughout the pregnancy and immediate postpartum period. We observed a favourable outcome of pregnancies complicated by PG without any associated maternal or foetal morbidity. Kuwaiti patients with PG were observed to have a predominance of HLA-DR3 and DQ2 antigens. No predominance of HLA-DR4 antigen was observed.
Nanda
A
A
As'ad Al-Hamad Dermatology Center, Al-Sabah Hospital, Kuwait. artinanda@hotmail.com
Al-Saeed
K
K
Dvorak
R
R
Al-Muzairai
I
I
Al-Sabah
H
H
Al-Arbash
M
M
Alsaleh
Q A
QA
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000208:ethnology / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II / Q000032:analysis*; D006650:Histocompatibility Testing; D006801:Humans; D007730:Kuwait; D006559:Pemphigoid Gestationis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000208:ethnology / Q000473:pathology*; D011239:Prednisolone / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011247:Pregnancy; D011256:Pregnancy Outcome
D005938:Glucocorticoids; D000949:Histocompatibility Antigens Class II; D011239:Prednisolone