LOCALIZED ATYPICAL PEMPHIGOID ON LYMPHEDEMA FOLLOWING RADIOTHERAPY

Autoimmune bullous diseases have been reported associated with differe nt causal factors: drugs, mechanical trauma and physical trauma, parti cularly ultraviolet light and radiotherapy. In these cases different h ypotheses regarding the pathogenesis of blister formation can be suppo rted. In this observation, we report a localized cicatricial pemphigoi d with unusual clinical presentation. Moreover, it appeared 9 years af ter radiotherapy for breast carcinoma and it was preferentially locali zed on an upper limb lymphoedema. Because of the long time between the treatment of carcinoma with radiotherapy and the onset of pemphigoid, we assume that lymphoedema played a major etiological role in this pa rticular cicatricial pemphigoid.