Management of pediatric psoriasis with acitretin: A review

Psoriasis is a chronic inflammatory disease of the skin which can occur at any age‐group. Psoriasis in childhood is not uncommon and has genetic susceptibility but usually, an environmental trigger such as infection is thought to initiate the disease process. Pediatric psoriasis has profound effects on both physical and psychosocial health of the patient. Treatment of mild psoriasis can be done with topical therapies but those which do not respond to topical therapies can be treated with phototherapy and systemic therapies. The use of systemic therapies in childhood is mainly based on the published data, case series, expert opinion and the experience as there is the lack of controlled trials in the age group. Based on the experience retinoids are probably the second line drugs for the treatment of pediatric psoriasis which do not respond to topical therapies and phototherapy. Using acitretin in a low dose and with proper physical examinations and laboratory investigations will reduce the hazard of potential serious adverse events. This article gives the review of the use of acitretin in pediatric psoriasis.     

Acitretin combined with NB‐UVB in the treatment of cutaneous CD30‐positive anaplastic large cell lymphoma

Cutaneous CD30⁺ lymphoproliferative disorders represent a spectrum of skin lymphatic reticular proliferative diseases, including lymphomatoid papulosis (LYP), primary cutaneous anaplastic large cell lymphoma (PC‐ALCL), and borderline lesions between them. Although they all express CD30 as a phenotypic marker and share overlapping immunophenotypic features, they differ in clinical manifestations, pathological features, treatment, and prognosis. LYP is a kind of benign disease characterized by recurrent papules and nodules, and may spontaneously regress. PC‐ALCL presents with solitary tumor or local grouped nodules characterized by large T‐cells and may completely or partially resolve in fewer than half of cases. We reported a case of patient with clinical manifestation and pathologic features consistent with LYP in its early stages, which later turned into PC‐ALCL. This patient was treated with acitretin combined with NB‐UVB and had an obvious response.     

Hidradenitis suppurativa: Clinical characteristics and determinants of treatment efficacy

Hidradenitis suppurativa (HS) is a chronic inflammatory skin disorder that causes a significant decline in quality of life. There are numerous treatment options; however, real‐life data on the efficacy of these treatments is limited. This study was performed in two centers to describe clinical characteristics and assess treatment outcome in a cohort of 139 patients with HS. Data on demographic and clinical characteristics, Hurley stage and comorbidities were collected from patient charts and evaluated retrospectively. Treatment response was measured with HS clinical response index (HISCR). Mean body mass index was 27.8±4.88 . Inflammatory comorbidities were present in 23%. Among first‐line drugs systemic doxycycline resulted in 60% HISCR followed by rifampicin–clindamycin combination (46.4%). Isotretinoin had the lowest HISCR (30.7%) in this group. For second‐line therapies, all acitretin treated patients achieved response and patients treated with tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF‐α) inhibitors had the highest HISCR. Currently recommended first‐line therapies have moderate efficacy in HS. Acitretin appears to be a reasonable alternative for the highly effective TNF‐α inhibitors in patients with severe and resistant HS. Overall, these results support that excessive inflammatory response play an important role in pathogenesis of HS.     

Low‐dose acitretin in Papillon–Lefèvre syndrome: treatment and 1‐year follow‐up

The Papillon–Lefèvre syndrome (PLS) is a rare, autosomal recessive disease that manifests with palmoplantar keratoderma and destructive periodontitis resulting in early onset periodontal breakdown in deciduous and permanent dentition. Management of this condition is difficult. Here we report one 11‐year‐old consanguineous Muslim boy suffering from PLS. After failing to get any benefit from methotrexate, three cycles of acitretin, each for 2 months, were given 1 month apart. In each cycle, acitretin (25 mg) was given every other day. At the end of the third cycle, treatment was stopped for 4 months to observe the extent of relapse. Thereafter, acitretin (25 mg) was given twice weekly for 4 months and then the patient was followed up for 1 year. Treatment with acitretin resulted in excellent improvement of periodontitis, increase in the alveolar bone height, and periodontal attachment. Improvement remained stable at the end of 1‐year follow‐up. There was excellent (>75%) improvement in keratoderma at the end of active therapy. Mild worsening of palmoplantar keratoderma was noticed whenever the drug was stopped. It improved when the drug was restarted. Other areas remained stable. At the end of 1‐year follow‐up, good improvement (50%) in palmoplantar keratoderma was achieved.     

Randomized controlled trial of acitretin versus placebo in patients at high-risk for basal cell or squamous cell carcinoma of the skin (North Central Cancer Treatment Group Study 969251)

BACKGROUND:

Chemoprevention with systemic retinoids has demonstrated promise in decreasing the incidence of new primary nonmelanoma skin cancers (NMSCs) in immunocompromised post‐transplantation recipients. There is limited evidence for the use of systemic retinoids in the nontransplantation patient. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first randomized controlled trial to assess the efficacy of acitretin as a chemopreventive agent in nontransplantation patients at high‐risk for NMSC.

METHODS:

The study was designed as a prospective, randomized, double‐blind, placebo‐controlled clinical trial. To test the possible skin cancer‐preventing effect of a 2‐year treatment with acitretin, 70 nontransplantation patients aged ≥18 years who had a history of ≥2 NMSCs within 5 years of trial onset were randomized to receive either placebo or acitretin 25 mg orally 5 days per week. The primary outcome measure was the rate of new NMSC development.

RESULTS:

Seventy patients were randomized to receive either acitretin alone (N = 35) or placebo (N = 35). During the 2‐year treatment period, the patients who received acitretin did not have a statistically significant reduction in the rate of new primary NMSCs (odds ratio, 0.41; 95% confidence interval, 0.15‐1.13; 54% vs 74%; P = .13). However, using the incidence of new NMSC, the time to new NMSC, and total NMSC counts, an umbrella test indicated a significant trend that favored the use of acitretin (chi‐square statistic, 3.94; P = .047). The patients who received acitretin reported significantly more mucositis and skin toxicities compared with the patients who received placebo.

CONCLUSIONS:

Although there was not a statistically significant benefit observed with the use of acitretin, this may have been the result of low statistical power. Cancer 2012;. © 2011 American Cancer Society.     

Combining etanercept and acitretin in the therapy of chronic plaque psoriasis: a 24-week, randomized, controlled, investigator-blinded pilot trial

Background Combination treatments may increase efficacy while reducing dosages and side‐effects of individual agents. No randomized controlled trials have been published combining biologics with conventional agents for psoriasis. Objectives To investigate the efficacy and safety of the association of acitretin and etanercept in the treatment of moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis. Methods A 24‐week, randomized, controlled, investigator‐blinded pilot trial was conducted. Sixty adult patients with moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis were randomized into three groups to receive etanercept 25 mg twice weekly subcutaneously, oral acitretin 0·4 mg kg^?1 daily or etanercept 25 mg once weekly plus acitretin 0·4 mg kg^?1 daily. The primary end point was a 75% or greater improvement in Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) from baseline (PASI 75) at week 24. Results At week 24, PASI 75 response was achieved by 10 of 22 patients in the etanercept group (45%), six of 20 in the acitretin group (30%) and eight of 18 (44%) in the group treated with etanercept plus acitretin (P = 0·001 for both etanercept groups compared with acitretin alone). A 50% or greater improvement from baseline in PASI was achieved by 15 of 22 (68%), 10 of 20 (50%) and 12 of 18 (67%) patients, respectively (P = 0·001). The safety profiles of the three groups were similar. Conclusions A combined therapeutic regimen with etanercept 25 mg once weekly and acitretin 0·4 mg kg^?1 daily is as effective as etanercept 25 mg twice weekly, and more effective than acitretin alone. Although larger studies are needed to confirm these results, the etanercept/acitretin association could offer several advantages in the therapy of moderate to severe chronic plaque psoriasis.     

Acitretin in management of diffuse common warts: a case report

Warts are among the most commonly observed dermatological diseases, caused by human papilloma virus (HPV), usually HPV1-2 subtypes; HPV4-7 are rarely found and mostly related to professional exposure (butchers and dairy workers). Different therapeutical approaches are possible, depending on extension and severity of lesions. The present authors describe the case of 32-year-old Caucasian man, who came to our attention for the presence of numerous exophytic papules on the back of both hands and over periungual regions, which appeared about 6 months before. Histological examination confirmed the clinical suspicion of common warts (HPV4). The patient underwent therapy by acitretin for 12 weeks, obtaining during the 8th week of therapy complete resolution of skin lesions. The present authors present this case for the unusual local aggressiveness of viral warts in an immunocompetent patient successfully treated with acitetrin.     

儿童泛发性脓疱型银屑病43例临床分析

回顾性分析 2005-2014年43例儿童泛发性脓疱型银屑病的临床资料,其中男22例,女21例。von Zumbusch型26例,环形型8例,局限型9例。发病年龄2个月～14岁,平均确诊年龄为6.98±4.57岁。秋季发病15例,夏季11例,冬季9例,春季8例。27例由感染诱发,36例患儿伴有发热;初始皮损表现为红斑基础上的无菌性脓疱。     

阿维A成功治疗残毁性掌跖角皮症1例

患者,男,35岁。双手、足出现黄褐色凹凸不平增生物,伴疼痛30年,组织病理示特征性角化过度和颗粒层增厚,阿维A治疗12个月,症状明显好转。     

Treatment of severe nail psoriasis with acitretin: an impressive therapeutic result

Nail psoriasis is common in adult psoriatic patients. Although several new drugs have recently been introduced for the treatment of skin psoriasis, treatment of nail psoriasis still remains a challenge. Topical treatments (e.g., corticosteroids, tazarotene, 5‐fluorouracil, calcipotriol) are the first line in the management of skin psoriasis. The efficacy of these drugs in nail disease, however, is limited, mainly due to the difficulty in penetrating the nail bed and nail matrix. In cases of nail disease resistant to topical treatment, methotrexate, ciclosporin, acitretin, or biological agents can be used. The present authors introduce a 73‐year‐old patient affected by impressive psoriatic nail disease involving all her fingernails and toenails treated by acitretin, a traditional systemic treatment. After 2 months of treatment there was a marked improvement. The clinical improvement of the nails was progressive and 6 months later it was stable and satisfactory. The remarkable response to treatment in this case suggests that oral acitretin, in association to urea nail lacquer, might be useful in the management of disabling severe nail psoriasis even in absence of severe cutaneous involvement.