Epidemiologic survey of pemphigus vulgaris with oral manifestations in northern Greece: Retrospective study of 129 patients

• Published in: International journal of dermatology Vol. 46; no. 4; pp. 356 - 361
• Main Authors: Michailidou, Evangelia Z., Belazi, Maria A., Markopoulos, Anastasios K., Tsatsos, Michael I., Mourellou, Olga N., Antoniades, Demetrios Z.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.04.2007; Blackwell Science
• Subjects: Adult; Age Distribution; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Biological and medical sciences; Bullous diseases of the skin; Case-Control Studies; Dermatology; Epidemiology; Female; General aspects; Greece - epidemiology; Humans; Incidence; Male; Medical Records; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Mouth Diseases - complications; Mouth Diseases - epidemiology; Mouth Diseases - pathology; Pemphigus - complications; Pemphigus - epidemiology; Pemphigus - pathology; Public health. Hygiene; Public health. Hygiene-occupational medicine; Retrospective Studies; Greece; Europe; Bullous dermatosis; Human; Immunopathology; Skin disease; Survey; Surveillance; Dermatology; Autoimmune disease; Pemphigus vulgaris; Oral cavity disease; Epidemiology; Retrospective
• ISSN: 0011-9059; 1365-4632
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-4632.2006.03044.x

Objective  To evaluate the epidemiology of pemphigus vulgaris (PV) in a Greek population and to compare it with other countries. Materials and Methods  A retrospective study was conducted based on the records of 129 patients (41 males and 88 females) with PV who visited the Department of the Oral Medicine and Maxillofacial Pathology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece and the State Hospital for Skin and Venereal Diseases of Thessaloniki, Greece, between 1985 and 2004. A group of 73 individuals was used as controls. Results  The average annual incidence was found to be eight patients per year. The male to female ratio was 1 : 2.25. The difference in the age of onset between the two genders was statistically significant in marginal levels (P = 0.05). In addition, 86.1% of the patients showed oral lesions only, 13.3% oral and skin lesions and 1.3% manifested oral, skin, and ocular lesions. Twenty‐eight of the 88 females were in the premenopausal period‐of‐life. Additionally, 19 males were farmers who had daily contact with organophosphoric pesticides. Co‐existing pathologic conditions were present in 75 of the 129 patients, and of these 75 patients six (8%) were diabetics, 15 (20%) presented with hypertension, two (2.6%) faced problems from their thyroid gland, and 10 (13.3%) of the patients complained of allergic reactions. Conclusions  The results of this study demonstrated a relatively high incidence of PV in northern Greece compared with that in other countries. The disease most frequently occured in the sixth decade‐of‐life and the majority of the patients manifested oral lesions. Further epidemiological studies are needed to elucidate whether this region is constituted from population groups with high susceptibility to PV.