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Dermatitis herpetiformis in a 30-month-old child.

Dermatitis herpetiformis is commonly observed in adults and adolescents. We report one of the youngest cases seen so far-a 30-month-old boy. After clinical investigations an asymptomatic gluten-sensitive enteropathy was diagnosed. Skin lesions resolved with gluten-free diet. Dermatitis herpetiformis should be considered in differential diagnosis of chronic dermatitis in early childhood as well. Monitoring for prevention of complications is the greatest problem at this age.

Age of Onset↗

Absence of cutaneous IgA in coeliac disease without dermatitis herpetiformis.

Skin biopsies from 17 patients with coeliac disease, but without dermatitis herpetiformis, were examined by direct immunofluorescence. In none of them was IgA detectable. In contrast, IgA was present in dermal papillae and/or in relation to the dermo-epidermal junction in 80 out of 83 patients with dermatitis herpetiformis. These findings confirm that cutaneous deposition of IgA at these sites is a very characteristic feature of dermatitis herpetiformis and is unrelated to coeliac disease itself.

Adult↗

Juvenile dermatitis herpetiformis: an immunologically proven case.

Subepidermal blistering diseases of childhood have, in the past, been thought to represent cases of juvenile dermatitis herpetiformis, bullous pemphigoid, or benign chronic bullous dermatosis of childhood. While the small-blister variety closely resembles adult-type dermatitis herpetiformis, the large-blister, or bullous, variety has clinical and histologic resemblances to bullous pemphigoid. The patient presented in this report clearly fits previous descriptions of the large-blister type of juvenile dermatitis herpetiformis, bullous pemphigoid, or benign chronic bullous dermatosis of childhood both clinically and histologically, while his therapeutic response to dapsone and the presence of in vivo bound IgA at the basement membrane of normal and perilesional skin are highly characteristic of the adult type of dermatitis herpetiformis. Immunofluorescent studies of similar cases reported in the literature, however, have shown variable results, thus obscuring their classification. Though the proper place of all such cases in the nosology of blistering diseases is not yet clear, at least some of them closely resemble adult-type dermatitis herpetiformis by two important criteria--immunologic and therapeutic.

Child, Preschool↗

Histology of linear IgA disease, dermatitis herpetiformis, and bullous pemphigoid.

The histologic appearances of cutaneous biopsy specimens from 30 patients with linear IgA disease with a continuous band of IgA along the basement membrane, four patients with a linear pattern of granular IgA along the basement membrane, 26 patients with dermatitis herpetiformis who had IgA in the papillary dermis, and 23 patients with bullous pemphigoid who had IgG and/or C3 along the basement membrane were compared. Those with linear and granular IgA and dermatitis herpetiformis differed from those with bullous pemphigoid in five respects. Multiple microabscesses and fibrin at tips of papillae and leukocytoclasis were less common in bullous pemphigoid, whereas a dense infiltrate of eosinophils in and below bullae and a linear infiltrate of eosinophils along the basement membrane were more common in bullous pemphigoid. Also, multilocular bullae and acantholysis were more common in dermatitis herpetiformis than in bullous pemphigoid. Linear IgA disease differed from dermatitis herpetiformis in two respects. Acantholysis and fibrin at the tips of papillae and leukocytoclasis were more common in dermatitis herpetiformis. The specimens from patients with granular IgA did not differ significantly from those with linear IgA or dermatitis herpetiformis. The appearances of biopsy specimens of patch tests with potassium iodide taken from 11 patients with dermatitis herpetiformis and linear or granular IgA disease were similar to those taken from spontaneous lesions.

Adult↗

Malignancies and mortality in patients with coeliac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis: 30-year population-based study.

BACKGROUND AND AIM: To assess the long-term risks of malignant diseases and mortality in patients with coeliac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis in a centre, where the prevalence of these diseases is high. The risks have probably been overestimated, as patients with subtle forms have earlier remained undetected. PATIENTS: The study comprised 17,245 person-years of follow-up in 1147 patients. METHODS: The observed numbers of malignancies and causes of deaths were assessed, and compared to those expected, and standardised incidence ratio and standardised mortality ratio given. RESULTS: The occurrence of all malignant conditions was equal to that in the population both in coeliac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis: standardised incidence ratios of 1.2 (95% confidence intervals 0.9-1.5) and 1.0 (0.6-1.5), respectively. Five patients with coeliac disease and seven with dermatitis herpetiformis had developed non-Hodgkin lymphoma; standardised incidence ratios of 3.2 (1.0-7.5) and 6.0 (2.4-12.4), respectively. Four patients with coeliac disease and one with dermatitis herpetiformis had enteropathy-associated T-cell lymphoma, associated with inadequate dietary compliance. Mortality was increased (standardised mortality ratio 1.26; 1.00-1.55) in coeliac disease, but decreased in dermatitis herpetiformis (standardised mortality ratio 0.52; 0.36-0.72). CONCLUSION: The overall prognosis in our patients was good. Non-Hodgkin lymphoma emerged in patients with undiagnosed or poorly treated coeliac disease. The mortality rate in dermatitis herpetiformis was even lower than in the population. Our data support the early diagnosis and dietary treatment of these conditions.

Adolescent↗

IgA immunoreactive deposits collocal with fibrillin immunoreactive fibers in dermatitis herpetiformis skin.

The IgA immunoreactive granules or fibrils, characteristically found in dermal papillae of patients with dermatitis herpetiformis, were previously reported to be associated with microfibrillar bundles. Recently, fibrillin, a component of such 8-12 nm microfibrils, was identified. In normal skin, the fibrillin immunoreactive microfibrils are present at the periphery of elastic fibers and are also present without concomitant amorphous elastin in the dermal papillae close to the lamina densa. The localization of the IgA immunoreactive material in the dermal papillae of 17 patients with dermatitis herpetiformis was compared with the distribution of the fibrillin immunoreactive fiber network. Immunofluorescence methods using FITC- and TRITC-labelled antibodies, an avidin-biotin-peroxidase complex technique, and standard elastin staining procedures, were used in several sequential and double staining procedures. In 13 specimens, in which the IgA reactivity was granular, most of the granules were located at the sites of fibrillin-reactive structures. As it could not be excluded that the collocality was coincidental, it could not be ascertained whether the IgA granules were in fact related to the fibrillin immunoreactive fibers in these specimens. However, in 4 specimens with both granular and fibrillar IgA immunoreactive deposits, these were clearly related to and located at the sites of fibrillin-reactive fibrils in the dermal papillae. The results confirm earlier reports of an association of IgA reactive deposits with microfibrillar bundles in dermatitis herpetiformis skin, though the possibility of their binding to other extracellular matrix component(s) has not been ruled out. The findings suggest that fibrillin may be the structural component (or one of them) to which IgA reactive deposits bind in the skin of patients with dermatitis herpetiformis.

Complement C3↗

[Deposits with anti-globulin activity in dermatitis herpetiformis].

Skin biopsy specimens from 2 patients with dermatitis herpetiformis were examined by means of direct immunofluorescence with fluoresceinated aggregated human IgG (FAIgG) for the presence of tissue antiglobulin activity. Positive FAIgG staining was seen in both skin biopsy specimens yielding a fluorescence pattern similar to that of immunoglobulin and complement deposits. Tissue antiglobulin activity was no more detectable in a second skin biopsy obtained from one patient whose rash was controlled by Dapsone. These findings suggest an involvement of tissue antiglobulin activity in the pathogenesis of dermatitis herpetiformis. In fact, tissue antiglobulin activity is capable of acting as an immunoabsorbent and binding immunocomplexes from the circulation.

Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic↗

Electron microscopic studies in dermatitis herpetiformis in relation to the pattern of immune deposits in the skin.

Electron microscopic studies were made in 12 cases of dermatitis herpetiformis: 6 of them with a continuous immunofluorescence line of IgA deposits at the dermo-epidermal junction, and the other 6 with granular IgA deposits in the dermal papillae. Six cases of bullous pemphigoid with a continuous immunofluorescence line of IgG deposits at the dermo-epidermal junction were examined similarly for comparison. In dermatitis herpetiformis with the continuous IgA line the ultrastructural characteristics both of dermatitis herpetiformis and bullous pemphigoid were present, even when the histological and clinical features as well as response to sulphapyridine and sulphones were typical of dermatitis herpetiformis. The ultrastructural pattern was essentially the same as in the cases with clinical and histological characteristics of the mixed dermatitis herpetiformis-bullous pemphigoid form, although in the latter there was some predominance of the characteristics of bullous pemphigoid.

Dermatitis Herpetiformis↗

Increased incidence of malignancy in dermatitis herpetiformis.

A retrospective study of 109 patients with dermatitis herpetiformis showed that malignant tumours had developed in seven patients, the expected incidence being 2.93, giving a relative risk of 2.38. In three of the seven patients the malignancy was a lymphoma, giving a relative risk of 100 for this tumour (expected incidence 0.03). In six of the seven patients who developed malignancies small-intestinal biopsy specimens were macroscopically abnormal, giving a relative risk of 4.22 in this group, which is similar to that reported in adult coeliac disease. Patients treated with a gluten-free diet appeared to have a reduced risk of developing malignancy compared with those taking a normal diet (relative risk with gluten-free diet 1.01 and with normal diet 3.09). A small subgroup of eight patients with linear IgA dermatitis herpetiformis were also studied: three developed malignant disease and in one the tumour was a lymphoma.

Dermatitis Herpetiformis↗

The cellular infiltrate of the jejunum in adult coeliac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis following the reintroduction of dietary gluten.

The cellular infiltrate of the jejunal mucosa has been studied in patients with both treated and untreated adult coeliac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis and serially in treated patients before and after the reintroduction of gluten to the diet. In adult coeliac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis the jejunal mucosa showed similar abnormalities of the cellular infiltrate which was characterized by an increase in intraepithelial lymphocytes and lamina propria plasma cells and eosinophils, with the greatest numbers of cells occurring in untreated patients. At 24-48 hours following a single 25-g gluten challenge there was an increase in lamina propria plasma cells, lymphocytes and eosinophils and intraepithelial lymphocytes. This rise was sustained after seven days on a gluten-containing diet for all of these cell groups except lamina propria lymphocytes. These responses were essentially similar in both adult coeliac disease and in those dermatitis herpetiformis patients who had jejunal lesions before treatment. In dermatitis herpetiformis patients with normal jejunal morphology on a normal diet there was an upward trend in lamina propria plasma cells and intraepithelial lymphocytes within one to three weeks of taking extra dietary gluten. These results are compatible with the view that more than one immunological mechanism may be responsible for the pathogenesis of the jejunal lesion of coeliac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis.

Adult↗

Density of gamma/delta+ T cells in the jejunal epithelium of patients with coeliac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis is increased with age.

Increased density of gamma/delta T cell receptor (TCR)+ intraepithelial lymphocytes is the only characteristic in the jejunum of patients with coeliac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis which is not normalized on a gluten-free diet. We explored the age-dependent changes in intraepithelial gamma/delta and alpha/beta TCR+ cells from 137 biopsies from patients with coeliac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis and from controls. Biopsy specimens from 100 patients with coeliac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis and from 37 controls were studied with an immunohistochemical method using MoAbs to T cell receptors and peroxidase staining. An increase in the density of intraepithelial gamma/delta T cells above the mean +2 s.d. of the density in controls was present in 97 of 100 specimens from patients with coeliac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis. The density of gamma/delta+ cells of patients with coeliac disease and dermatitis herpetiformis on a normal gluten-containing diet showed a positive correlation with age (r = 0.45, P < 0.0001). In controls, the density of gamma/delta+ cells remained low throughout the age-range studies, from age 0.6-57 years. In controls, alpha/beta+ cells increased with age (r = 0.57, P < 0.001). The increase in density of intraepithelial lymphocytes with age is in agreement with their thymus-independent character and local proliferation.

Adolescent↗

Mortality and cancer incidence in patients with dermatitis herpetiformis: a cohort study.

One hundred and fifty-two patients in whom a diagnosis of dermatitis herpetiformis was made at St John's Hospital for Diseases of the Skin, London, during 1950-85, were followed from the date of diagnosis to the end of 1989 for mortality, and from 1971, or the date of diagnosis if later, to 1986 for cancer incidence. Thirty-eight deaths occurred under the age of 85, slightly fewer than expected on the basis of national general population rates [standardized mortality ratio (SMR) = 87; 95% confidence interval (CI) 61-119]. All-cause mortality was somewhat lower in patients who had followed a gluten-free diet (SMR = 51; 17-120) than in those who had not (SMR = 97; 66-136), but the difference in SMRs was not significant (P = 0.3). Cancer mortality was non-significantly below expectations from national rates (SMR = 72; 31-142), but cancer incidence was significantly increased [standardized registration ratio (SRR) = 394; 180-749]. No particular cancer site accounted for the cancer incidence excess. One death occurred from cancer of the small intestine (SMR = 4953, P = 0.04), and one lymphoma was incident (SRR = 1555, P = 0.12). Increased risks of these malignancies have previously been found to be associated with coeliac disease (which is present in many patients with dermatitis herpetiformis), and with dermatitis herpetiformis, respectively. Mortality from ischaemic heart disease (IHD) was significantly below national rates (SMR = 37; 95% CI 12-86), and was similar in patients who had followed a gluten-free diet and those who had not.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Adult↗

Systemic lupus erythematosus and dermatitis herpetiformis: concurrence with Marfan's syndrome.

There is increasing evidence that, as in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), deposition of immune complexes plays a role in the pathogenesis of dermatitis herpetiformis (DH). Dermatitis herpetiformis and SLE were diagnosed in a 15-year-old girl with Marfan's syndrome who died of cardiac tamponade secondary to cystic medial necrosis of the ascending aorta. The concurrence of these diseases suggests that predisposition to immune-mediated disorders may be associated with the expression of multiple clinical entities.

Adolescent↗

Deposition of granular IgA relative to clinical lesions in dermatitis herpetiformis.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the deposition of IgA and C3 in the skin of patients with active dermatitis herpetiformis relative to the sites of disease. DESIGN: In the phase 1 study, skin biopsy specimens were obtained from erythematous perilesional skin, nonerythematous perilesional skin, and never-involved skin. In the phase 2 study, specimens from the nonerythematous perilesional and uninvolved skin from the same anatomic region were sampled. SETTING: The Dermatology Clinic at the University of Utah Health Sciences Center, Salt Lake City. PATIENTS: Patients with known dermatitis herpetiformis: 19 patients in the phase 1 study and 15 patients in the phase 2 study. Suppressive medications were stopped for 48 to 72 hours after biopsy specimens were obtained. All patients had active disease at the time that biopsy specimens were taken. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: The intensity of IgA and C3 immunofluorescent staining in 6 sections from each skin biopsy specimen was graded by using a semiquantitative scale (0 to 3+) in a blinded fashion by a single observer. RESULTS: Deposition of IgA was more intense in noninflamed perilesional skin in 11 of 19 patients compared with that in erythematous skin (P < .05). Erythematous skin was negative for IgA in 16% (3/19) of the specimens. Noninflamed perilesional skin showed more intense IgA deposition in 18 of 19 specimens compared with that in never-involved skin (P < .01); C3 was more intense in erythematous skin (P < .01). In the phase 2 study, skin from the same anatomic region revealed greater deposition of IgA near lesions in 12 of 15 patients (P < .001). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with dermatitis herpetiformis, IgA is not uniformly distributed throughout the skin, and IgA is present in greater amounts near active lesions. The preferred biopsy site for the diagnosis of dermatitis herpetiformis is normal-appearing skin that is adjacent to an active lesion.

Adolescent↗

A freeze-fracture study of the enteropathy associated with dermatitis herpetiformis: a comparative investigation with coeliac disease.

Jejunal biopsies from patients with either dermatitis herpetiformis or coeliac disease were freeze-fractured and compared with normal jejunal biopsies. The intestinal mucosa of the normal biopsies showed a normal structure, with well-developed and tightly packed microvilli; in dermatitis herpetiformis and coeliac disease degenerative changes of the intestinal mucosa occurred. These changes appeared to be segmental in dermatitis herpetiformis and diffuse in coeliac disease. Emphasis is placed on changes in the tight junctional net at the base of the microvilli, which could represent cellular damage related to increased intestinal permeability to macromolecules in these diseases. An interpretative hypothesis for these observations is presented.

Biopsy↗

Risk of lymphoma in patients with dermatitis herpetiformis.

OBJECTIVE: To provide accurate estimates of the risk of lymphoma in patients with dermatitis herpetiformis. DESIGN: Comparison of observed and expected incidence of cancer in patients with dermatitis herpetiformis. SUBJECTS: 976 patients aged 4 to 97 years with no clinical signs of coeliac disease who were admitted to hospital between 1963 and 1983. SETTING: Data from Swedish Cancer Registry. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Incidence and type of cancer. RESULTS: 106 cancers were diagnosed in 94 patients. The relative risk was 1.4 (95% confidence interval 1.1 to 1.7) in male patients and 1.2 (0.8 to 1.7) in female patients. When the individual cancer sites were analysed a significant risk was found only for malignant, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma in male patients, with a relative risk of 5.4 (2.2 to 11.1). CONCLUSIONS: The risk of lymphoma is greater in male patients with dermatitis herpetiformis, and this calls for increased surveillance in these patients.

Adolescent↗

Small intestinal mucosal abnormalities in relatives of patients with dermatitis herpetiformis.

Jejunal biopsy has been carried out in 19 relatives of patients with dermatitis herpetiformis and stereomicroscopic abnormalities have been found in seven. The majority of the relatives in whom these abnormalities were found had no bowel symptoms: one had the rash of dermatitis herpetiformis. All but one of the propositi of the relatives in whom were found small intestinal mucosal abnormalities themselves had the coeliac syndrome. It is concluded that a genetic factor is involved in the production of the enteropathy of dermatitis herpetiformis as in other forms of the coeliac syndrome.

Adolescent↗