Full Description
This extensively revised new edition provides a quick study and reference guide for physicians who treat patients with autoimmune bullous diseases (AIBDs), the most life-threatening inflammatory diseases of the skin. AIBDs are rare, comprising less than 1% of the dermatological patients and as such, they are often given little focus in general dermatology literature, despite being complicated and demanding diseases to manage. Chapters cover the latest developments in diagnostic assays and the use of pemphigoids. New contributions include how AIBD affects children and the care of wounds in instances of blistering disease from the perspective of a nurse practitioner.
Autoimmune Bullous Diseases: Text and Review is written in a direct and simple style with tables and figures to illustrate this difficult field practically. At the end of each chapter the reader is challenged to check the learned matter with multiple-choice questions, while it contains protocols and follows international guidelines, making it suitable study material for courses on autoimmune bullous diseases. Residents and researchers in dermatology and adjacent disciplines will find this book useful as a quick guide when dealing with these patients.
Contents
Basic Principles of the Immune System and Autoimmunity.- Dermatological examination of bullous diseases.- How to take a biopsy.- Direct Immunofluorescence Microscopy.- Indirect Immunofluorescence Microscopy.- Immuno-assays.- Structure of Desmosomes.- Pemphigus vulgaris.- Pemphigus foliaceus.- Paraneoplastic pemphigus.- IgA Pemphigus.- Drug-induced pemphigus.- Structure of hemidesmosomes and the epidermal basement membrane zone.- Pemphigoid Diseases Affecting the Skin.- Mucous membrane pemphigoid.- Epidermolysis bullosa acquisita.- Bullous systemic lupus erythematosus.- Linear IgA bullous dermatosis.- Drug-induced Pemphigoid and Linear IgA Disease.- Dermatitis herpetiformis.- Stevens Johnson syndrome / toxic epidermal necrolysis and erythema exsudativum multiforme.- Porphyria Cutanea Tarda and Pseudoporphyria.- Bullous dermatitis artefacta.- Autoimmune bullous diseases in childhood.- Wound care in autoimmune bullous diseases.- Appendix: Patient support groups and international centers for AIBD.
