Randomized double-blind multicenter study comparing acitretin-PUVA, etretinate-PUVA and placebo-PUVA in the treatment of severe psoriasis.
A randomized double-blind study was designed with 65 patients in order to clarify two points: (1) does addition of a retinoid to psoralen-ultra violet A photochemotherapy (PUVA) of severe psoriasis decrease the UVA energy required to achieve remission, and (2) is there a difference between two retinoids, i.e. etretinate and acitretin. Acitretin-PUVA treatment was significantly superior to placebo-PUVA with respect to several items (decrease in lesional scores after 6 weeks of therapy, number of PUVA exposures, and total dose of UVA until remission). There were also differences between the etretinate-PUVA and placebo-PUVA groups, but only the decrease in lesional scores reached statistical significance.
Saurat
J H
JH
Department of Dermatology, University Hospital of Geneva, Switzerland.
Geiger
J M
JM
Amblard
P
P
Beani
J C
JC
Boulanger
A
A
Claudy
A
A
Frenk
E
E
Guilhou
J J
JJ
Grosshans
E
E
Mérot
Y
Y
D017255:Acitretin; D000328:Adult; D002986:Clinical Trials as Topic; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005050:Etretinate / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D015337:Multicenter Studies as Topic; D011701:PUVA Therapy; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology; D011897:Random Allocation; D012074:Remission Induction; D014212:Tretinoin / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use
D014212:Tretinoin; D005050:Etretinate; D017255:Acitretin