Pattern of Autoimmune Bullous Disorders Based on Histopathological Diagnosis, in ALERT Hospital, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia 2021: An Eight Years (2014-2021) Retrospective Study
No Thumbnail Available
Date
2021-08
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Addis Abeba University
Abstract
Background: Autoimmune bullous diseases are a group of rare, acquired disorders causing
blistering of the skin and/or mucous membranes characterized by overlapping features, resistance
to treatment, and run a chronic course associated with significant morbidity and mortality. The
incidence of autoimmune bullous diseases among the general population is reported as
14.5/million/year. Therapy of bullous diseases consists of suppressing the immune system,
controlling inflammation and improving healing of erosions. Majority of autoimmune bullous
diseases are chronic diseases that can cause physical and emotional distress which is exacerbated
by the need to often have lifelong treatment with immunosuppressive therapies that have
potentially severe adverse effects. To the knowledge of the investigator, there is no study
conducted regarding the prevalence of auto immune bullous diseases in Ethiopia.
Objective: Assess the pattern of autoimmune bullous diseases based on histopathological
diagnosis in ALERT/AHRI hospital from 2014-2021
Methods: A retrospective cross sectional study was conducted at ALERT/AHRI.
Histopathologic reports of all patients from January, 2014- June, 2021 were reviewed and cases
with autoimmune conditions were selected. Obtained data were coded and entered using EpiData
version
4.6.0.2,
and
it
was
cleaned
and
analyzed
using
SPSS.
Descriptive
analysis
of
basic
participant’s
characteristics
and
disease
pattern
of
autoimmune
disease
was
conducted.
Result:
From the 13,563 patients sent for biopsy analysis, 134 patients were sent for
histopathology confirmatory test for AIBD in the study period, 86 study participants who full fill
the operational definition were enrolled and analyzed. Among these 37.2% of them were male
and the rest 62.8% were female, with a mean age of 40.9 year, the minimum age of disease
onset being 7 month of age and the maximum age of disease onset was 82 years old. The most
frequent AIBD was Bullous pemhigoid with 34.8% (n=30), followed by pemphigus foliaceous
and pemphigus vulgaris each being 24.4% (n=21).
Conclusion and recommendations: This study found bullous pemphigoid is the most prevalent
in the assessed institution site. The overall mean age of the patients being 40.9 years, with a
minimum age of 7 month and maximum of 82 years. Moreover, AIBD was seen in higher
predominance in female patients, it is recommended for researchers to conduct a prospective
study including other hospitals with a clinical correlation plus a qualitative study to assess how
to improve the quality of life for such patients. Moreover, it is recommended to use a
confirmatory diagnosis of AIBD i.e. immunofluorescence study for further researches.
Description
Keywords
Autoimmune bullous Disorders,Histopathological Diagnosis