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Efficacy and Safety of Oral Isotretinoin in the Treatment of Patients With Moderate to Severe Seborrheic Dermatitis
TAKE-HOME MESSAGE
- A total of 48 patients with moderate to severe seborrheic dermatitis were treated with either 20 mg daily or 10 mg daily dosage of oral isotretinoin for 2 to 6 months in this retrospective study. The Symptom Scale of Seborrheic Dermatitis score was significantly reduced after treatment compared with baseline, with no significant difference between the 20-mg and 10-mg dosing groups.
- Although limited by small sample size and short-term follow-up, this study suggests that off-label use of low-dose oral isotretinoin may be a safe and effective treatment option in patients with recalcitrant seborrheic dermatitis.
abstract
This abstract is available on the publisher's site.
Access this abstract nowBACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES
Seborrheic dermatitis is a common, chronic, and recurrent inflammatory skin disease. There are few studies on oral isotretinoin in the treatment of seborrheic dermatitis. The aim of this research was to analyze the efficacy and safety of oral isotretinoin in the treatment of patients with moderate to severe seborrheic dermatitis.
METHODS
This was a retrospective study. All included patients were diagnosed as moderate to severe seborrheic dermatitis and treated with oral isotretinoin from January 2019 to December 2020. Symptom Scale of Seborrheic Dermatitis (SSSD) was used to evaluate the overall severity status of disease.
RESULTS
A total of 48 patients with moderate to severe seborrheic dermatitis were enrolled, of which 26 patients were treated with oral isotretinoin at a dose of 20 mg/day, and 22 patients were treated with oral isotretinoin at a dose of 10 mg/day. The duration of treatment was 2.42 ± 0.98 months (range: 2-6 months). The absolute SSSD values were 10.63 ± 1.02 for all 48 patients, 10.95 ± 1.15 and 10.30 ± 1.11 for patients with a dose of 20 and 10 mg/day, respectively. At the endpoint, there were no significant difference in SSSD values between the two groups (2.21 ± 0.24 vs. 2.35 ± 0.46, P = 0.18). The patients were satisfied with the two treatment schemes, and the difference was not statistically significant (P = 0.78). The most common side effect was cheilitis; however, no serious adverse events occurred in either group.
CONCLUSIONS
When considering efficacy and safety, oral isotretinoin can be used to treat patients with moderate to severe seborrheic dermatitis.
Additional Info
Efficacy and safety of oral isotretinoin in the treatment of moderate to severe seborrheic dermatitis: a retrospective study
Int. J. Dermatol 2023 Feb 15;[EPub Ahead of Print], Z Yanfei, N Xiaoying, Z Dingwei, W Wei, R JianwenFrom MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.