Kyriakou A, Patsialas C, Patsatsi A, Sotiriadis D. Treatment of male genital lichen sclerosus with clobetasol propionate and maintenance with either methylprednisolone aceponate or tacrolimus: a retrospective study.
J DERMATOL TREAT 2013;
24:431-4. [PMID:
23472631 DOI:
10.3109/09546634.2013.782385]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE
To assess the efficacy of clobetasol propionate 0.05% cream in male patients suffering from genital lichen sclerosus (GLS), as well as the efficacy of methylprednisolone aceponate 0.1% cream and tacrolimus 0.1% ointment as maintenance therapy.
METHODS
The study was conducted retrospectively. At baseline, male patients with GLS (n = 41) were treated with clobetasol propionate 0.05% cream applied twice daily for 8 weeks. Visual Analog Scale (VAS) score for pruritus, Investigator's Global Assessment (IGA) score and Dermatology Life Quality Index (DLQI) were recorded at baseline, week 8 and week 20. At week 8, patients responsive to treatment (n = 37) were further treated with methylprednisolone aceponate 0.1% cream twice weekly (n = 17) or tacrolimus 0.1% ointment once daily (n = 20), as maintenance therapy until week 20.
RESULTS
VAS, IGA and DLQI median scores were significantly decreased from baseline to week 8 (p < 0.001). At week 20, patients treated with methylprednisolone aceponate 0.1% cream presented no significant difference in median IGA score (p = 0.865), median DLQI score (p = 0.853) or median VAS score (p = 0.474) compared with patients treated with tacrolimus 0.1% ointment.
CONCLUSIONS
Clobetasol propionate 0.05% cream is effective as first-line treatment in male GLS. The data suggest that there is no difference between methylprednisolone aceponate 0.1% cream and tacrolimus 0.1% ointment in preventing the relapses.
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