Bullous pemphigoid(BP)is an autoimmune blister disease caused by antibodies to the basement membrane zone.It usually exhibits tense bullae in skin and mucous membrane.BP patients can suffer from thrombosis due to hypercoagulation and/or hemorrhage due to the presence of anti-coagulation factors,which may be explained by the eosinophils,antibodies to the coagulation factors,and fibrinolytic system hyperactivity or inhibition.
Autoantibodies ; Blister ; Blood Coagulation Disorders ; complications ; Blood Coagulation Factors ; Eosinophils ; Hemorrhage ; etiology ; Humans ; Mucous Membrane ; pathology ; Pemphigoid, Bullous ; complications ; Skin ; pathology ; Thrombosis ; etiology

OBJECTIVETo examine the variations in the prevalence of skin reactions and the association between skin reactions and efficacy of summer acupoint application treatment (SAAT) on chronic pulmonary disease (CPD).

METHODSA total of 2,038 patients with CPD were enrolled at 3 independent hospitals (defined as Groups A, B and C, respectively) in China. All patients were treated by SAAT, as applying a herbal paste onto the acupoints of Fengmen (BL 12) and Feishu (BL 13) on the dog days of summer, according to the lunar calendar, in 2008. Ten days after treatment, skin reaction data (no reaction, itching, stinging, blistering, and infection) were obtained via face-to-face interviews. Patients were retreated in the same hospital one year later, thereby allowing doctors to assess treatment efficacy based on the patients' symptoms, the severity of the spirometric abnormalities, and the concomitant medications used.

RESULTSA large number of patients (85.3%) displayed reactive symptoms; however, the marked associations between reactive symptoms and age or gender were not observed. An increased number of patients from Group B (99.3%) and Group C (76.5%) displayed reactive symptoms due to the increased mass of crude Semen Sinapis Albae. The effective rate of SAAT was as high as 90.4% for patients of Group B, which was followed by Group A (70.9%) and Group C (42.2%). Using stratified analyses, a convincing association between reactive symptoms and therapeutic efficacy was observed for patients with asthma [itching: odds ratio (OR)=2.17, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.49 to 3.14; blistering: OR=0.43, 95% CI: 0.25 to 0.73; and no reaction: OR=0.56, 95% CI: 0.35 to 0.90]. However, the same tendency was not observed for patients with chronic bronchitis and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

CONCLUSIONSSAAT can induce very mild skin reactions for patients with CPD, among which patients with asthma displayed a strong association between skin reactions and therapeutic efficacy. The skin reactions may be induced by the crude Semen Sinapis Albae.

Acupuncture Points ; Adult ; Aged ; Blister ; etiology ; Child ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Prospective Studies ; Pruritus ; etiology ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive ; therapy ; Skin ; pathology ; Treatment Outcome

Intermittent pneumatic compression (IPC) device is an effective method to prevent deep vein thrombosis. This method has been known to be safe with very low rate of complications compared to medical thromboprophylaxis. Therefore, this modality has been used widely in patients who underwent a hip fracture surgery. We report a patient who developed extensive bullae, a potentially serious skin complication, beneath the leg sleeves during the use of IPC device after hip fracture surgery.
Aged, 80 and over ; Blister/*etiology/pathology ; Female ; Hip Fractures/*surgery ; Humans ; Intermittent Pneumatic Compression Devices/*adverse effects ; *Postoperative Complications ; Venous Thromboembolism/prevention & control