Pemphigus and bullous pemphigoid are members of the chronic nonhereditary blistering skin diseases of man. Pemphigus, a skin disease considered universally fatal before the development of corticosteroid therapy, is characterized clinically by flaccid, weeping, bullous lesions that eventually become large denuded areas of skin. Involvement of the mucous membranes is common and may represent the presenting symptomatology. The characteristic histopathology-in traepidermal bulla formation with loss of cohesion of the epidermal cells (acantholysis)-is diagnostic of pemphigus [1].

Bullous pemphigoid, a disease with a much better prognosis, affects chiefly the elderly patient. It is characterized by large tense blisters involving primarily the intertriginous areas. Denuded and peripherally extending lesions, as seen in pemphigus, are rare in this disease. Histopathologically, subepidermal bullae are found in bullous pemphigoid [1].