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Bullous pemphigoid is an autoimmune blistering disease affecting elderly patients, who often have comorbidities. Treatment with prednisone, while effective for most patients, is associated with toxicity at required doses. Rituximab, a B-cell–depleting agent with subsequent effects on levels of potentially pathogenic immunoglobulins, has been demonstrated effective for pemphigus. Pemphigoid, as opposed to pemphigus, does not have a measurable antibody that correlates with disease activity. Nevertheless, rituximab has been reported to be effective for pemphigoid in case reports and small case series.
These authors retrospectively compared outcomes in 13 patients who received rituximab plus prednisolone and 19 patients who received prednisolone…