Chronic Nonhereditary Blistering Disease in Children

Pemphigus, bullous pemphigoid, and dermatitis herpetiformis occur infrequently in children. The clinical, histologic, and immunologic features are basically the same as in adults except for an increased incidence of oral lesions in pemphigus and bullous pemphigoid. Immunofluorescence has been valuable as a diagnostic aid in clarifying the relationship of dermatitis herpetiformis and bullous pemphigoid to benign chronic bullous dermatosis of childhood, which appears to be a distinct and separate entity.