UNUSUAL REACTION AFTER SOFT-X-RAY THERAPY IN A PATIENT WITH PEMPHIGUS-VULGARIS

A 71-year-old woman suffered from pronounced erosion of her nose after soft X-ray therapy (total dose 28 Gy, half dose depth 10.5-11.5 mm). 5 weeks after the end of the irradiation no healing tendency was obser ved. This unusual clinical course was caused by a simultaneously exist ing pemphigus vulgaris that worsened after radiotherapy, presumably as a consequence of the release of epidermal antigens. In this case it i s improbable that the pemphigus was induced by the radiotherapy, as ha s been reported on several occasions in the literature. However, this possibility cannot be entirely excluded.