Multiple courses of pulse corticosteroid therapy for alopecia areata.
Various systemic corticosteroid therapies are used for alopecia areata (AA). Pulse therapy using methylprednisolone is a treatment approach for AA. The efficacy of multiple courses of pulse therapy for various severities of AA was evaluated. AA patients with less than 50% hair loss, less than or equal to 6 months after AA onset, needed 1.9 courses of pulse therapy for vellus hair to develop. On the other hand, AA patients with more than 50% hair loss, less than 6 months after AA onset, needed more courses of pulse therapy for vellus hair to develop. Regardless of the disease duration, AA patients with less than 50% hair loss showed a good response rate (100%) after both a short period and a long period after therapy. After receiving multiple courses of pulse therapy, the AA patients with more than 50% hair loss also showed improvement with limited adverse reactions.
Department of Dermatology, Wakayama Medical University, Wakayama, Japan.|Department of Dermatology, Arida Municipal Hospital, Arida, Japan.
Takashi
T
Yoshimasu
Department of Dermatology, Wakayama Medical University, Wakayama, Japan.
Nobuo
N
Kanazawa
Department of Dermatology, Wakayama Medical University, Wakayama, Japan.
Yuki
Y
Yamamoto
Department of Dermatology, Wakayama Medical University, Wakayama, Japan.
Fukumi
F
Furukawa
D061605:Administration, Intravenous; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000506:Alopecia Areata / Q000188:drug therapy*; D005260:Female; D005938:Glucocorticoids / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006197:Hair / Q000187:drug effects / Q000254:growth & development; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008775:Methylprednisolone / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008875:Middle Aged; D017410:Practice Guidelines as Topic; D020551:Pulse Therapy, Drug / Q000009:adverse effects; D012535:Scalp; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult
D005938:Glucocorticoids; D008775:Methylprednisolone
alopecia areata; corticosteroid; methylprednisolone; multiple courses; pulse therapy