Abstract
The term pemphigus refers to a group of autoimmune intraepidermal blistering diseases of the skin and mucous membranes. The acquired diseases of the pemphigus do not heal spontaneously and are primarily characterized by acantholysis within the epidermis leading to blistering.
The term pemphigus, from the Greek pemphix meaning 'bubble', originated with Hippocrates, who described a pemphigoid fever that was not characterized by blisters and thus probably did not represent pemphigus. In 1791 Wichmann gave the name pemphigus to a chronic blistering disease that corresponds to what is today recognized as pemphigus.
At the beginning of the last century all blistering diseases were classified under the name pemphigus. First in 1953 Lever characterized pemphigus vulgaris as an entity distinct from bullous pemphigoid.
That classification was based upon histopathologic features, clinical aspects and the course of the disease.