Epidemiology of pemphigus vulgaris in the Northeast China: A 10-year retrospective study

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the incidence, epidemiological, clinical and therapeutic features of patients with pemphigus vulgaris in China. We retrospectively investigated a total of 221 patients with pemphigus vulgaris. The parameters including age at diagnosis/onset, sex, diagnostic methods, hospitalizations, side-effects with different treatments, pemphigus vulgaris-associated diseases, the therapeutic features and duration of follow up were evaluated. The male:female ratio was 1:1.40. The incidence rate was obviously higher in two age groups, 31-40years and 41-50years. The mean age at onset was 44.19 +/- 21.45years. The majority of patients (56.56%) presented the mucocutaneous type. In addition, we found that various doses of corticosteroids (including the mean initial dose, maximum control dose, total dose before reducing and hospitalized total dose) exhibited statistical differences between only corticosteroids and corticosteroids-immunosuppressant groups in mild, moderate and severe pemphigus vulgaris (P<0.05). Our survey suggested that pemphigus vulgaris most frequently occurred in the 41-50-year age group in China and the majority of patients manifested mucocutaneous lesions. Importantly, the incidence rate in females was higher than in males. The patients who needed combined immunosuppressant treatment, usually needed higher doses of corticosteroids initially, to control the disease and over the total course of treatment.