Pemphigus vulgaris: results of treatment with gold as a steroid-sparing agent in a series of thirteen patients.

Between 1974 and 1981, thirteen patients with pemphigus vulgaris were treated with prednisone supplemented by gold salts. Therapy resulted in excellent responses in eleven of the thirteen, with complete remission in seven. At a mean follow-up of 48.8 months, five patients still had complete remission and required no further treatment. Treatment of pemphigus vulgaris initially with prednisone followed by gold compounds is recommended as an important modality with relatively low morbidity and may permit lower effective doses of corticosteroids to be employed, occasionally even permitting their complete withdrawal.