Treatment of disseminated granuloma annulare with oral vitamin E: 'primum nil nocere'.

Abstract

BACKGROUND:

Disseminated granuloma annulare (DGA) is a benign and usually asymptomatic skin disease. However, many patients feel aesthetically disfigured and ask for treatment. Until today, no standard therapy is recommended.

OBJECTIVE:

To evaluate the safety and efficacy of oral vitamin E treatment compared to the natural course of DGA.

METHODS:

This single-centre observational cohort study included 38 consecutive patients with histologically confirmed DGA. 21 patients underwent treatment with oral vitamin E, whereas 17 patients preferred a wait-and-see approach.

RESULTS:

Complete healing (40%) and improvement (30%) were frequently seen under oral vitamin E therapy. However, DGA also spontaneously disappeared in 31% and improved in 25% of untreated control patients. Vitamin E therapy was very well tolerated.

CONCLUSIONS:

Oral vitamin E treatment is a safe and probably effective therapy for DGA. As the natural course of DGA leads to complete healing or significant improvement in many cases, 'primum nil nocere' should be the maxim.

• Authors: Heiko Poppe, Lidia M Poppe, Matthias Goebeler, Axel Trautmann
• Journal: Dermatology (Basel, Switzerland) (Dermatology) Vol. 227 Issue 1 Pg. 83-8 ( 2013) ISSN: 1421-9832 [Electronic] Switzerland
• PMID: 23988344 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Observational Study)

Chemical References

• Vitamins
• Vitamin E

Topics

• Administration, Oral
• Adolescent
• Adult
• Aged
• Aged, 80 and over
• Child
• Female
• Granuloma Annulare (drug therapy)
• Humans
• Male
• Middle Aged
• Remission, Spontaneous
• Retrospective Studies
• Vitamin E (therapeutic use)
• Vitamins (therapeutic use)
• Watchful Waiting
• Young Adult