Fallberichte

Bullous pemphigoid (BP) is a cutaneous autoimmune disease predominantly affecting older patients which can cause death either due to severe clinical manifestations or due to the side effects of systemic immunosuppressive treatment. Topical treatment with corticosteroids is an established alternative to systemic treatment. However, prolonged application is accompanied by side effects such as skin atrophy. Recently, the immunomodulatory calcineurin antagonists tacrolimus and pimecrolimus have been introduced for topical treatment of skin diseases. Tacrolimus has been reported to be effective in several inflammatory skin disorders such as atopic dermatitis, psoriasis, lichen planus, lupus erythematosus and pyoderma gangraenosum. Efficacy has also been described in the topical treatment of BP in some cases. Here we present the case of a 89 year old patient with BP. He was treated with 0.1% tacrolimus ointment, which was able to control the disease. We briefly review the literature and discuss the potential role of tacrolimus as a novel option for the topical treatment of BP.