Familial Benign Chronic Pemphigus

Abstract

Three cases of familial benign chronic pemphigus (FBCP) are presented, all of which proved to have Candida albicans superimposed on typical acantholytic lesions. The persistence of lesions in warm, moist regions and the clearing of others under therapy with local application of steroid and antibiotics, led to speculation that the fungi might have been more than a coincidental finding. To test the ability of cultured C albicans to produce typical lesions of FBCP, it was applied to previously uninvolved skin of all patients, and was uniformly successful. Histopathological confirmation was also obtained. The addition of a drug capable of inhibiting C albicans, nystatin (Mycostatin), decreased but did not completely eliminate the appearance of new lesions.