Childhood epidermolysis bullosa acquisita. Detection in a 5-year-old girl.

A 5 1/2-year-old girl with a blistering disease involving the skin and the oral, ocular, and anogenital mucosa is described. The initial clinical, histologic, and immunofluorescence findings suggested a diagnosis of cicatricial pemphigoid. However, immunoelectron microscopy demonstrated linear deposits of several immunoreactants within the sub-lamina densa region of the dermoepidermal junction, consistent with the diagnosis of epidermolysis bullosa acquisita. Although epidermolysis bullosa acquisita is considered a disease of adult onset, it should be included in the differential diagnosis of blistering diseases in children.