Clinical study of Korean patients with linear IgA bullous dermatosis

Background: Linear IgA bullous dermatosis (LABD) is an autoimmune, chronic bullous disease characterized by sub-epithelial bullae with linear IgA deposits along the basement membrane. LABD primarily affects young children and adults. There has been no study on LABD in Korea to date. Objective: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical features, laboratory examinations, treatments, and outcomes of Korean LABD patients. Patient characteristics including age at disease onset, gender, medical associations, medications, immunofluorescence findings, disease duration, treatment, and outcome were analyzed. Methods: A retrospective analysis was conducted on 16 LABD patients diagnosed at Gangnam Severance Hospital between 1999 and 2014. Results: A total of 16 LABD patients were included in the study, 5 children and 11 adults. The mean ages at disease onset in children and adults were 3.2 and 41 years, respectively. Eighty percent of children with LABD showed complete remission. In adults, partial remission was achieved in 36.4%, and complete remission in 54.5% of patients. Two patients were diagnosed with drug-induced LABD, and 2 with ulcerative colitis-associated LABD. Conclusion: Our report differed from previous reports in that all 5 children with LABD were male, and the incidence in adults was higher in females than males. Most patients responded well to dapsone and oral prednisolone. Since LABD is rare and can be misdiagnosed as impetigo or bullous pemphigoid, diagnosis by immunofluorescence microscopy is necessary for proper treatment to attain disease remission.