Prurigo chronica multiformis is an intensely pruritic, chronic cutaneous disorder of unknown etiology without any effective treatment. This is a report on the results of using
etretinate therapy to treat
prurigo chronica multiformis. Thirty-seven patients (average age; 69.1+/-11.5 year-old) were treated with 30 mg/day
etretinate along with topical
steroids (very strong classes) and oral
antihistamines.
Etretinate was discontinued as soon as remission was achieved. Thirty-six patients were followed up for at least four weeks. The number of patients who achieved remission increased progressively after the initiation of
etretinate therapy; 18 patients were totally and 14 were partially free of active skin lesions within four weeks. Eventually, 27 patients achieved remission with an average duration of 4.4+/-3.1 weeks
etretinate treatment (range; 1-14 weeks), and five achieved partial remission. Four patients discontinued
etretinate within two weeks because of the absence of clinical response (two cases) or exacerbation of the skin lesion (two cases). Among the 27 patients who had achieved remission, 23 had recurrence after the cessation of
etretinate. The remission period ranged from 1 to 32 weeks with an average duration of 5.7+/-6.7 weeks. Combined treatment with topical
steroids and oral
antihistamines did not achieve remission in the recurrent cases but re-administration of 30 mg/day
etretinate did. Our observation suggests that a moderate dose of
etretinate is a safe and effective
therapy for
prurigo chronica multiformis, which is often resistant to conventional treatment using topical
steroids and oral
antihistamines.