A Comparative Study of Oral Cyclosporine and Betamethasone Minipulse Therapy in the Treatment of Alopecia Areata.
- Author:
Yong Hyun JANG
1
;
Sang Lim KIM
;
Kyou Chae LEE
;
Min Ji KIM
;
Kyung Hea PARK
;
Weon Ju LEE
;
Seok Jong LEE
;
Do Won KIM
Author Information
- Publication Type:Comparative Study ; Original Article
- Keywords: Alopecia areata; Betamethasone; Comparative study; Cyclosporine; Pulse drug therapy
- MeSH: Alopecia Areata*; Alopecia*; Betamethasone*; Cyclosporine*; Hair; Humans; Pulse Therapy, Drug; Self-Assessment; Treatment Outcome
- From:Annals of Dermatology 2016;28(5):569-574
- CountryRepublic of Korea
- Language:English
- Abstract: BACKGROUND: Various systemic agents have been assessed for the treatment of alopecia areata (AA); however, there is a paucity of comparative studies. OBJECTIVE: To assess and compare cyclosporine and betamethasone minipulse therapy as treatments for AA with regard to effectiveness and safety. METHODS: Data were collected from 88 patients who received at least 3 months of oral cyclosporine (n=51) or betamethasone minipulse therapy (n=37) for AA. Patients with ≥50% of terminal hair regrowth in the alopecic area were considered responders. RESULTS: The responder of the cyclosporine group was 54.9% and that of the betamethasone minipulse group was 37.8%. In the cyclosporine group, patients with mild AA were found to respond better to the treatment. Based on the patient self-assessments, 70.6% of patients in the cyclosporine group and 43.2% of patients in the betamethasone minipulse group rated their hair regrowth as excellent or good. Side effects were less frequent in the cyclosporine group. CONCLUSION: Oral cyclosporine appeared to be superior to betamethasone minipulse therapy in terms of treatment effectiveness and safety.
