Localized pemphigoid on the soles of both feet

Abstract

An 80-year-old woman was referred to our hospital with a spontaneously appearing bullous dermatosis limited to the soles of both feet, causing an intense pruritus. She also suffered from Parkinson's disease and depression, and had been treated with levodopa, benserazide, and mirtazapine for several years. On clinical examination, we found several tense and hemorrhagic bullae, with a diameter of up to 3 cm, at both plantar sites and multiple, confluent, dyshidrotic vesicles ( Figs 1 and 2). The rest of the skin, including the mucous membranes and palms, was normal. The first clinical diagnosis was podopompholyx, but histopathologic findings and direct immunofluorescence revealed a diagnosis of bullous pemphigoid, showing subepidermal blisters (Fig. 3) and linear deposits of C3 and immunoglobulin G (IgG). Indirect immunofluorescence was positive, the IgG autoantibodies bound to the epidermal site of salt-split skin, and circulating antibodies against bullous pemphigoid antigens 1 and 2 were found. Because of this typical clinical picture, a diagnosis of dyshidrotic pemphigoid, a localized form of bullous pemphigoid, was made. Under systemic treatment with prednisolone, 40 mg/day, the skin healed completely within 2 weeks. Descriptions of dyshidrotic pemphigoid limited to the soles of both feet are very rare, and the clinical findings might easily lead to a misdiagnosis of podopompholyx.