title: Survey of bullous pemphigoid disease in northern Iran.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Bullous pemphigoid is an autoimmune subepidermal blistering skin and mucous membrane disease that usually occurs in elderly people. This study was done to determine clinical features, paraclinical findings, incidence of mucosal lesions, prognosis, course of the disease, and mortality rate of patients with bullous pemphigoid.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective descriptive study that reviews the existing files of 122 patients with bullous pemphigoid referred to dermatology clinics of Ghaem and Imam Reza hospitals in Mashhad, Iran, from 1995 to 2010.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The majority of patients were aged between 60 and 79 years, and 53% of them were women. The major prodromal lesions were erythematous and urticarial (36.8%) and eczematous lesions (32.7%); 84.3% of patients complained of pruritus, and mucosal lesions were observed in 31.1% of patients (all in the oral mucosa). The most frequent concurrent diseases with pemphigoid were hypertension and diabetes mellitus.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Clinical features, paraclinical findings, incidence of mucosal lesions, prognosis, course of the disease, and mortality rate of bullous pemphigoid in the Khorasan region were approximately similar to results from other regions.
authors.affiliation: Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Research Center, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Ghaem hospital, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Mahnaz
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Banihashemi
authors.affiliation: Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Research Center, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Ghaem hospital, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Naghmeh
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Zabolinejad
authors.affiliation: School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Department of Dermatology, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Sadegh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Vahabi
authors.affiliation: Department of General Surgery, School of Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad, Iran.
authors.forename: Hamed S
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Razavi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001768:Blister / Q000209:etiology; D015897:Comorbidity; D048909:Diabetes Complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D004485:Eczema / Q000209:etiology; D004890:Erythema / Q000209:etiology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006973:Hypertension / Q000453:epidemiology*; D007492:Iran / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009059:Mouth Diseases / Q000209:etiology; D010391:Pemphigoid, Bullous / Q000150:complications / Q000175:diagnosis* / Q000401:mortality*; D011537:Pruritus / Q000209:etiology; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014581:Urticaria / Q000209:etiology; D055815:Young Adult