Abstract
In order to reveal the prognosis of patients with pemphigus, we examined the disease course and treatment methods used in patients who have been treated at our outpatient department. The results revealed that 37.7% of the patients (38.5% of pemphigus vulgaris (PV) patients and 35.3% of pemphigus foliaceus (PF) patients) were found to be free from the disease (without symptoms or circulating pemphigus antibody and not requiring any treatment for more than 1 year). Additionally, there were no significant differences in the number of the patients in the remission phase or the disease-free phase between the apheresis-treated group and the non-treated group. Furthermore, the number of PF patients in the remission phase or disease-free phase was not as high as that of PV patients. These results indicate that immediate remission or disease free-condition can be achieved by appropriate treatment in the majority of pemphigus patients.
