Background Benign cutaneous lesions, so‐called cysts, are frequently seen in clinics and might evoke cosmetic and psychosocial concerns. Aim This study aimed to demonstrate the clinicopathologic findings of these lesions and also the importance of histological evaluation for prevention of misdiagnosing a benign‐appearing malignant lesion. Methods A descriptive study was conducted of 2,438 cases who had a diagnosis of cyst confirmed with pathology. The data of patients over the 6‐year period between 2011 and 2017, including gender, age, location, prevalence, complications, and microscopic evaluation, were gathered. Results From a total of 2,438 records with a clinical diagnosis of mucocutaneous cyst, 2077 had the pathologic diagnosis of cysts. They consisted of 910 women (43.8%) and 1167 men (56.1%) with a mean age of 42. The most common mucocutaneous cysts were epidermal cyst 994 (47.8%) followed by trichilemmal cyst 495 (23.8%). In 479 (19.6%) records, the clinical diagnosis was not congruent with histopathological diagnosis including 45 malignant cases. Basal cell carcinoma in 22 (48.9%) was the most common one. Conclusions This study reports on clinical characteristics of cutaneous cysts and the need for a decent diagnostic investigation, like histopathology, for achieving a reliable diagnosis regarding the benign mimicking malignant lesions, especially high risk ones.

The ongoing COVID‐19 pandemic has raised concerns regarding the outcome of this infection in patients with autoimmune bullous dermatoses (AIBDs) due to effect of drugs used to treat these disorders. This investigation was performed from the onset of the pandemic to June 1, 2021. Patients with AIBDs who contracted COVID‐19 were evaluated. A generalized linear model was employed to find the predictors of severe COVID‐19 among patients with AIBDs. Ninety‐three patients with AIBDs with a mean age of 50.3 years were evaluated. The most COVID‐19 related symptoms were tiredness (76.3%) myalgia (69%), and cough (63.4%). During follow‐up, the rate of hospitalization and death were 45.2% and 4.3%, respectively. Previous comorbidities (β = 0.61) and mean prednisolone dosage above 10 mg/day in the last 3 months ( β = 1.10) significantly increased COVID‐19 severity. Also, vaccination against SARS‐CoV‐2 ( β = −1.50) and each passing month from the last rituximab dose decreased severity ( β = −0.02). Notably, 19.3% of the patients developed AIBD flare‐ups following COVID‐19 infection. Higher prednisone dose and the shorter interval from the last rituximab infusion were determinants of severe COVID‐19. Physicians should assess the risk versus the benefits when prescribing the medications. Moreover, vaccination could successfully attenuate COVID‐19 severity.

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Background: Rituximab (RTX) is an effective treatment for pemphigus; however, the drug labeling recommends not to use RTX within 1 year before conception. Objectives: To report pregnancy outcomes of patients with pemphigus who were treated with RTX before or during pregnancy. Methods: We identified 19 pregnancies with RTX exposure before or during pregnancy. All had previously been advised not to get pregnant within 1 year of RTX administration. The cases were categorized into 3 groups of exposure of within 6 months (group A), between 6 and 12 months (group B), and longer than 12 months of conception (group C). The pregnancy outcomes of different RTX exposure intervals were compared. Results: Group A included 9 pregnancies, of which 3 had received RTX accidentally after conception. Group B and C included 4 and 6 pregnancies, respectively. There was no significant difference between the groups regarding pregnancy outcomes. Overall, there were 17 live births, 1 spontaneous abortion, and 1 termination. Of the live births, 3 preterm deliveries and 4 low-birth-weight neonates were noted. Moreover, 1 neonate was hospitalized due to early-onset neonatal sepsis, and 1 had hydronephrosis. Disease flare-up occurred in 5 patients during pregnancy (4 minor and 1 major relapses) and in 5 patients after delivery (3 minor and 2 major relapses). Conclusions: Except for 1 case of neonatal sepsis which survived following medical treatment, no serious relevant adverse pregnancy outcome that could be attributed to RTX exposure before and during early pregnancy in women with pemphigus was detected. Nevertheless, RTX should not be administered within 1 year before planned pregnancy, as not enough data is available yet.

Background and AimThere have been concerns regarding the potential exacerbation of autoimmune bullous diseases (AIBDs) following vaccination against COVID-19 during the pandemic. In the current study, vaccine safety was evaluated in patients with AIBDs.MethodsIn this study, patients with AIBDs were contacted via face-to-face visits or phone calls. Patient demographics, vaccine-related information, pre- and post-vaccine disease status, and complications were recorded. The exacerbation was considered either relapse in the remission/controlled phase of the disease or disease worsening in the active phase. The univariate and multivariate logistic regression tests were employed to determine the potential risk factors of disease exacerbation.ResultsOf the patients contacted, 446 (74.3%) reported receiving at least one dose of vaccine injection (54.7% female). Post-vaccine exacerbation occurred in 66 (14.8%) patients. Besides, there were 5 (1.1%) patients with AIBD diagnosis after vaccination. According to the analysis, for every three patients who received vaccines during the active phase of the disease one experienced disease exacerbation. The rate of disease exacerbation increased by three percent with every passing month from the last rituximab infusion. Active disease in the past year was another risk factor with a number needed to harm of 10.ConclusionRisk of AIBD exacerbation after the COVID-19 vaccine is not high enough to prevent vaccination. This unwanted side effect, can be reduced if the disease is controlled at the time of vaccination.