title: Clinical features and practical diagnosis of bullous pemphigoid.
abstract: Bullous pemphigoid (BP) represents the most common autoimmune subepidermal blistering disease. BP typically affects the elderly and is associated with significant morbidity. It has usually a chronic course with spontaneous exacerbations. The cutaneous manifestations of BP can be extremely protean. While diagnosis of BP in the bullous stage is straightforward, in the non-bullous stage or in atypical variants of BP signs and symptoms are frequently non-specific with eg, only itchy excoriated, eczematous, papular and/or urticarial lesions that may persist for several weeks or months. Diagnosis of BP critically relies on immunopathologic examinations including direct immunofluorescence microscopy and detection of serum autoantibodies by indirect immunofluorescence microscopy or BP180-ELISA.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, University of Lübeck, Ratzeburger Allee 160, 23538 Lübeck, Germany. enno.schmidt@uk-sh.de
authors.forename: Enno
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Schmidt
authors.forename: Rocco
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: della Torre
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Borradori
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D001323:Autoantibodies / Q000276:immunology; D001324:Autoantigens / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D001768:Blister / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D015897:Comorbidity; D003937:Diagnosis, Differential; D022002:Hemidesmosomes / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D015994:Incidence; D024041:Non-Fibrillar Collagens / Q000276:immunology* / Q000378:metabolism; D010391:Pemphigoid, Bullous / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D000097805:Collagen Type XVII
chemical_list: D001323:Autoantibodies; D001324:Autoantigens; D024041:Non-Fibrillar Collagens; D000097805:Collagen Type XVII