title: Acitretin and etretinate in the treatment of palmoplantar pustulosis: a double-blind comparative trial.
abstract: Sixty patients with palmoplantar pustulosis were treated in a double-blind trial with either acitretin (etretin, Ro 10-1670) or with etretinate. The study consisted of 4 weeks of therapy with three 10 mg capsules/day followed by 8 weeks of therapy with a varying number of capsules given daily according to therapeutic response. At the end of the 12-week treatment period, the mean number of pustules (+/- SEM) had decreased from 57.8 (+/- 8.6) to 3.9 (+/- 1.6) in the acitretin group and from 57.1 (+/- 14.1) to 5.7 (+/- 2.7) in the etretinate group. With regard to influence on erythema, infiltration, scaling, and area involved, similar improvements were obtained in both treatment groups. Adverse reactions of the hypervitaminosis A type were observed with almost the same frequency and severity in both treatment groups. The mean number of 10 mg capsules used daily was comparable in the two groups: 2.82 (range 1.23-4.67) for acitretin and 2.77 (range 1.60-4.82) for etretinate. It can be concluded that acitretin and etretinate do not significantly differ with regard to efficacy and overall safety in the treatment of patients with palmoplantar pustulosis.
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, University Central Hospital, Helsinki, Finland.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Lassus
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Geiger
mesh_terms: D017255:Acitretin; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005050:Etretinate / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D005533:Foot Dermatoses / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006229:Hand Dermatoses / Q000188:drug therapy*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011897:Random Allocation; D014212:Tretinoin / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use
chemical_list: D014212:Tretinoin; D005050:Etretinate; D017255:Acitretin