Gestational pemphigoid (GP)  is a rare autoimmune variant of the skin disease bullous pemphigoid, and first appears in pregnancy. It presents with tense blisters, small bumps, hives and intense itching, usually starting around the navel before spreading to limbs in mid-pregnancy or shortly after delivery. The head, face and mouth are not usually affected.It may flare after delivery before resolving around three to six months after the pregnancy. It can be triggered by subsequent pregnancies, menstrual periods and oral contraceptive pill. A molar pregnancy and choriocarcinoma can provoke it. In some people, it persists long-term. It is associated with premature delivery of a small baby, a few who may be born with blisters and urticaria, which generally resolves within six weeks. It does not spread from one person to another, and does not run in families.Diagnosis is by visulaization, biopsy and immunofluorescence. It can resemble pruritic urticarial papules and plaques of pregnancy, erythema multiforme, drug reactions and blistering scabies.Around 1 in 20,000 to 50,000 pregnancies are affected. It was originally called herpes gestationis because of the blistering appearance, although it is not associated with the herpes virus. Signs and symptoms
Diagnosis of GP becomes clear when skin lesions progress to tense blisters during the second or third trimester. The face and mucous membranes are usually spared. GP typically starts as a blistering rash in the navel area and then spreads over the entire body. It is sometimes accompanied by raised, hot, painful welts called plaques.
Treatments that have been used include surgical excision, intralesional steroid injection, cryotherapy, and low dose radiotherapy. In the case of a resistant or reoccurring lesion, chemotherapy has been used as a treatment. Ocular JXG is usually unilateral and presents with a tumor, a red eye with signs of uveitis, unilateral glaucoma, spontaneous hyphema or heterochromia iridis. Diagnosing and treating the patient as early as possible contributes to the most positive visual outcome. Histiocytic disorders like JXG are identified by the cells that make them up. Immunohistochemical analysis is used to discern the immunoreactivity to certain antibodies in these analyses. JXG is a non-LHC disorder which is a varied group of disorders defined by the accumulation of histiocytes that do not meet criteria to be diagnosed as Langerhans cells. JXG is not metastatic and may be present with lipid deposits. JXG is often accompanied with other disorders such as neurofibromatosis type one and juvenile chronic myelogenous leukemia. Juvenile variety xanthogranuloma can be distinguished from xanthoma by the spread of the lesion and the lack of lipid abnormalities. Other similar diagnoses include molluscum contagiosum, hemangioma and neurofibroma. See also
Non-X histiocytoses
List of cutaneous conditions

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