Cyclosporine is efficacious in short-term treatment of various
eczematous disorders. In a follow-up study we have evaluated the long-term efficacy of
cyclosporine in 75 patients, who in previous studies had been treated with
cyclosporine for
chronic actinic dermatitis (6 patients),
atopic dermatitis (42 patients) and chronic hand
eczema (27 patients), 4, 2 and 1 year after the initial treatment, respectively. Three out of 6 patients with
chronic actinic dermatitis showed long-term efficacy. Two years after the initial treatment with
cyclosporine (5 mg/kg/day for 1-2 treatment periods of 6 weeks) for
atopic dermatitis the mean disease activity was significantly lower compared to baseline (58% decrease), and compared to the time of treatment stop no significant change had occurred. Of 37 evaluable patients 35 were still in remission. One year after the initial treatment with
cyclosporine (3 mg/kg/day for 6 weeks) for chronic hand
eczema the mean disease activity was significantly lower than at baseline (54% decrease), and compared to the time of treatment stop no significant change had occurred. Of 27 evaluable patients 21 patients were still in remission. The study suggests that long-term remissions are possible in eczematous diseases treated with
cyclosporine, even for a relatively short treatment period. It must be stressed, however, that we did not have control groups for any of the studied patient groups.