A Rare Occurrence: Crohn’s Disease Associated with Pemphigus Vulgaris

Crohn’s disease is a chronic inflammatory bowel disease with an unknown etiology that may affect any segment of the digestive tract, from the oropharyngeal to the perianal region. It is characterized by a discontinuous and transmural pattern of inflammation that involves all tissue layers of the digestive tract. Common mucocutaneous manifestations of Crohn’s disease involve erythema nodosum and erythema multiforme. Pemphigus vulgaris is a chronic autoimmune mucocutaneous disease, caused by an autoimmune mechanism in which antibodies against desmoglein 1 and desmoglein 3, disrupt the normal components of the keratinocyte cell membrane. It represents the most common and most serious type of pemphigus. It manifests, initially, with blisters and erosions on the oral mucosa, with subsequent lesions and intraepithelial vesicles on other mucous and cutaneous surfaces and eventually, entire body dissemination. We present a case of a patient with a decade-long history of Pemphigus Vulgaris, in whom Crohn’s disease was diagnosed 10 years later.