Vascular cognitive impairment in Pemphigus vulgaris: a case report

• Main Authors: José Ibiapina Siqueira- Neto, Paulo Marcelo Gondim Sales, Emmanuelle Silva Tavares Sobreira, Aline Miranda Limeira, Heline Bessa Araujo, Júnia Vieira dos Santos, José Daniel Vieira de Castro
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Associação Neurologia Cognitiva e do Comportamento
• Series: Dementia & Neuropsychologia
• Subjects: Pemphigus vulgaris; cognitive vascular impairment; neuropsychological testing; auto-immune diseases; dementia
• Online Access: http://www.scielo.br/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S1980-57642012000300192&lng=en&tlng=en
• ISSN: 1980-5764

ABSTRACT Pemphigus vulgaris is a systemic auto-immune medical condition that mainly manifests with changes in skin and vasculopathy. This is a case report of a 69-year-old male with confirmed histopathologic diagnosis of Pemphigus vulgaris presenting ulterior Cognitive Impairment, mostly in executive function. The patient was treated using steroids, immunomodulatory therapy, fluoxetine and galantamine. Neuropsychological testing and magnetic resonance (MRI) were performed. This is the first report of correlational cognitive impairment with Pemphigus vulgaris in the literature. Physicians should be aware of vascular causes for cognitive impairment in patients presenting auto-immune conditions.