Original paper
The usefulness of radiotherapy in treatment of benign familial pemphigus

Hailey-Hailey disease (HHD), or familial benign chronic pemphigus, is an autosomal dominant genodermatosis. The symptoms of the disease (itching, pain, burning) may lead, in some cases, to a lowering in the quality of life and even to disability. As HHD is chronic and frequently recalcitrant to treatment, various therapeutic approaches including invasive methods have been introduced. We present a 50-year-old Caucasian man with a 9-year history of HHD in whom many of these treatments have been tried. A local beneficial effect was finally obtained after using the electron beam radiotherapy. Skin lesions on the right and left axillae were treated with the electron beam at an antinflammatory dose (energy 7.5 MeV). The patient received 20 Gy in total, in 10 fractions counted to 90% isodose, on each axilla. In the area of the radiotherapy, no recurrence of the disease was observed during a 11-month follow-up (right axilla) and 3-month follow-up (left axilla). The radiotherapy with electron beam was beneficial in HHD and it seems to be un effective and alternative method in treatment of this dermatosis.