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Dermatol Ther. 2021 May 16:e14986. doi: 10.1111/dth.14986. Online ahead of print.

ABSTRACT

Rosacea is a common inflammatory facial skin condition affecting the adult population. Its papulopustular subtype is mainly treated pharmacologically by topical and oral antibiotics. For severe or antibiotics-recalcitrant disease, daily low-dose isotretinoin has also been reported to be effective. However, no previous study has assessed the efficacy of once-weekly administered isotretinoin for papulopustular rosacea. For this purpose, a retrospective comparative study was conducted. For severe rosacea, 40mg/week isotretinoin (24 patients) was administered. For mild to moderate rosacea, once-weekly 20 mg/week isotretinoin (28 patients) was compared to 100 mg/day minocycline (24 patients). Treatment courses lasted 4 to 7 months. 40 mg/week isotretinoin was highly effective for severe rosacea, achieving complete response (over 90% improvement) in 62.5% of patients and partial response (50-90% improvement) in additional 29.2% of patients. 20 mg/week isotretinoin and 100 mg/day minocycline showed comparable efficacy for mild to moderate rosacea (complete response of 10.7% vs. 8.3% and partial response of 28.6% vs. 33.3%, respectively). This study demonstrates that that the use of a weekly low-dose isotretinoin is an effective treatment for papulopustular rosacea, including among patients with severe disease. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

PMID:33993601 | DOI:10.1111/dth.14986

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