Journal der Deutschen Dermatologischen Gesellschaft = Journal of the German Society of Dermatology : JDDG
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J Dtsch Dermatol Ges · Mar 2005
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study Comparative StudyIntravenous dexamethasone-cyclophosphamide pulse therapy in comparison with oral methylprednisolone-azathioprine therapy in patients with pemphigus: results of a multicenter prospectively randomized study.
Pemphigus is a potentially life-threatening autoimmune blistering skin disease usually treated with high-dose corticosteroids in combination with immunosuppressive drugs. In a multicenter, prospectively randomized study we compared efficacy and side effects of a dexamethasone-cyclophosphamide (D/C) pulse therapy with a methylprednisolone-azathioprine (M/A) therapy in 22 patients with newly diagnosed pemphigus vulgaris and pemphigus foliaceus. ⋯ Because of the high number of progressions in patients treated with D/C therapy, we can not confirm the encouraging results of earlier reports about pulse D/C therapy. Nevertheless D/C therapy seemed to be better tolerated and, in case of primary efficacy, was associated with fewer recurrences than M/A therapy.
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J Dtsch Dermatol Ges · Aug 2004
Case Reports[Two cases of frontal fibrosing alopecia in postmenopausal women].
Frontal fibrosing alopecia (FFA) is an uncommon, slowly progressive, cicatricial alopecia which mainly affects postmenopausal women. It is considered to be a variant of lichen planopilaris. We describe two postmenopausal women who developed over 11 and 24 months an asymptomatic atrophic alopecia, restricted to the frontal hairline. ⋯ The treatment of FFA is often difficult. In most cases, the disease resolves spontaneously after several years. Immunomodulators such as corticosteroids and calcineurin antagonists should be tried in the early stage of FFA (frontal effluvium with perifollicular erythema) in order to arrest the disease in its inflammatory phase.