In plain words
Pemphigoid gestationis is a rare skin condition of pregnancy. It causes itchy red patches and blisters, often starting around the belly button and spreading to the arms, legs, or trunk. The name herpes gestationis is an older name, and the condition is not caused by a herpes virus. It usually starts in the second or third trimester and can flare after birth. Your provider diagnoses it with a skin sample, and treatment is available. It can affect the baby, who may be born small or with a temporary rash. New or spreading and blistering is a reason to be seen by a provider the same day.
The deeper version
Pemphigoid gestationis is an autoimmune subepidermal blistering disorder with IgG and complement deposition at the basement membrane zone, usually presenting in the second or third trimester and sometimes postpartum. Diagnosis rests on perilesional direct immunofluorescence on skin biopsy. Ambros-Rudolph et al. (2006), in a two-center series of 505 pregnant patients, reclassified the specific dermatoses of pregnancy and placed it apart from and . Neonatal involvement occurs in a minority of cases, typically as transient skin lesions, and some infants are born preterm or . Systemic corticosteroids are the usual first-line treatment in the literature, and the disease is recognized to recur in later pregnancies.
Where it comes up
- Skin in pregnancy: stretch marks, linea nigra, melasma, itchingPregnancy: Your Body
- Itching that won't stop: cholestasisPregnancy: Your Body
- Headaches and migrainesPregnancy: Your Body
- Pregnancy after a lossPregnancy: Mind and Life
- What to eat in pregnancy: the short versionPregnancy: Eating
What mothers here say about pemphigoid gestationis
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Sources
- Ambros-Rudolph CM et al. — The specific dermatoses of pregnancy revisited and reclassified: results of a retrospective two-center study on 505 pregnant patients. Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology, 2006