CLINICAL FEATURES:
 childhood onset within 5-6 years of birth (chronic bullous disease of childhood)
 adult onset in 6-8th decades
 often antecedent infection
 annular erythemaous patches with tense blisters at edges
 trunk and extremities most often affected

HISTOPATHOLOGICAL FEATURES:
 subepidermal blister
 neutrophils linearly aligned along dermal-epidermal junction
 papillary dermal edema
 occasional eosinophils

IMMUNOFLUORESCENCE:
 linear IgA and C3 along dermal-epidermal junction
 immune deposits localize to roof of blister in most cases

DIFFERENTIAL:
 dermatitis herpetiformis
 bullous arthropod bite reaction
 Sweet syndrome
 bullous lupus erythematosus
 epidermolysis bullosa acquisita

RETURN TO: subepidermal blistering diseases