ABSTRACT
In a pregnancy complicated by maternal pemphigus vulgaris (PV), pemphigus IgG was found both in the fetal circulation and fixed to fetal epidermis in the characteristic intercellular distribution. Light microscopic examination of fetal skin was diagnostic of PV. These findings indicated transplacental transmission of PV. They also strongly support the pathogenic role of PV antibodies and the concept of PV as a tissue-specific autoimmune disease. The occurrence of intrauterine death despite careful antepartum surveillance underscores the management problems encountered when pemphigus coexists with pregnancy.
Subject(s)
Autoantibodies/analysis , Immunoglobulin G/analysis , Pemphigus/transmission , Pregnancy Complications , Adult , Autoantibodies/metabolism , Biopsy , Female , Fetal Blood/metabolism , Fetal Death/pathology , Humans , Immunoglobulin G/metabolism , Maternal-Fetal Exchange , Pemphigus/immunology , Placenta/metabolism , Pregnancy , Skin/embryology , Skin/immunology , Skin/pathologyABSTRACT
A neonate with oral lesions of pemphigus vulgaris is described. The diagnosis was confirmed by cytological examination of lesions, positive intercellular IgG staining of the acantholytic cells, and presence of pemphigus antibodies in his serum. At the time of delivery, the child's mother had active pemphigus vulgaris, and it is suggested that this was a case of passively transferred disease.