Pemphigus vegetans (overview) L10.10

Rare, localized, benign, inversely localized (axils, inguinal region, capillitium, face, oral mucosa) clinical variant of pemphigus vulgaris. The prominent clinical feature is the formation of enormous, verucose growths in the intertriginous tissue. Histologically, pemphigus vegetans is characterized by powerful proliferations of the epithelium in lesional skin. Untreated this form changes into pemphigus vulgaris.

For historical reasons, a distinction is made between:

• Pemphigus vegetans, Neumann type (more aggressive course)
• Pemphigus vegetans, Hallopeau type (less aggressive)

1. Hallopeau FH (1898) Nouvelle étude sur une forme pustuleuse et bulleuse de la maladie de Neumann, dite pemphigus végétans Annales de dermatologie et syphiligraphie (Paris) 9: 969
2. Hashizume H et al (1993) Epidermal antigens and complement-binding anti-intercellular antibodies in pemphigus vegetans, Hallopeau type. Br J Dermatol 129: 739-743
3. Jansen T et al (2001) Pemphigus vegetans. A historical perspective. dermatologist 52: 504-509
4. Neumann HA et al (1980) Pyodermite vegetante of Hallopeau. Arch Dermatol 116: 1169-1171
5. Ngo JT et al (2012) Pemphigus vegetans associated with intranasal cocaine abuse. J Cutan Med Surg 16:344-349