Dexamethasone-cyclophosphamide pulse therapy for autoimmune-vesiculobullous disorders at Victoria hospital, Bangalore

Pemphigus is the commonest autoimmune vesiculobullous disorder on the Indian subcontinent. The mainstay treatment of the disease is systemic steroids and other immunosuppressive therapies. We evaluated the pattern of treatment as originally presented by Pasricha et al. in 1988 and by Surindar Kanwar in 1990. Starting in April 2001, we enrolled 50 patients with autoimmune vesiculobullous disorders for dexamethasone-cyclophosphamide pulse therapy [DCP] in our hospital. Of these, six (12 %) patients are currently in the fourth phase of treatment, ten (20 %) are in the third phase, fifteen (30 %) in the second phase, and twelve (24 %) patients are in the first phase. Treatment was discontinued by six patients, and one fatality secondary to hyperglycemia and mucormycosis. Our findings are consistent with previous reports that DCP therapy is very effective in the treatment of vesiculobullous disorders.