Pemphigus in the eastern region of Turkey

Introduction
Pemphigus refers to a group of rare autoimmune vesiculobullous diseases with high morbidity and mortality, mainly affecting the skin and the mucosae.

Aim
To evaluate the incidence of pemphigus in the Eastern region of Turkey by analysing the clinical characteristics of the patients including the drugs used in the treatment and their side-effect profiles and dosing schedules, duration of treatment, length of hospital stay, and the characteristics of the lesions.

Material and methods
The retrospective study included 130 pemphigus patients who were admitted to the in- and out-patient dermatology clinics at the University Medical School between January 2005 and October 2017. Age, gender, length of hospital stay, localization of the lesions, initial and maintenance dosages, treatment-related complications, comorbidities, family history, and smoking status were recorded for each patient.

Results
The 130 patients included 62 (47.69%) men and 68 (52.31%) women, of which 73 (56.15%) patients had a smoking history. The annual incidence rate of pemphigus was 1.036/100,000 population and pemphigus vulgaris (PV) was the most common clinical subtype of pemphigus in our patients (n = 122; 93.85%). The most common side effect of the treatment was oral candidiasis, followed by Cushingoid appearance.

Conclusions
The results indicated that the incidence of pemphigus is remarkably high in the Eastern region of Turkey and the associated factors including lifestyle changes should be taken into mind when considering these patients.