TY - JOUR A1 - More, Yuvraj A1 - Khatu, Swapna A1 - Chavan, Dipali A1 - Mahajan, Pradeep A1 - Pawar, Sai A1 - Gokhale, Neeta T1 - Evaluation of safety and efficacy of low-dose methotrexate as an alternative treatment option to systemic corticosteroids in generalized lichen planus Y1 - 2017/3/1 JF - Medical Journal of Dr. D.Y. Patil University JO - Med J DY Patil Univ SP - 149 EP - 155 VL - 10 IS - 2 UR - https://journals.lww.com/mjdy/pages/default.aspx/article.asp?issn=0975-2870;year=2017;volume=10;issue=2;spage=149;epage=155;aulast=More DO - 10.4103/0975-2870.202094 N2 - Introduction: Lichen planus (LP) is a common, chronic, inflammatory pruritic disorder involving the skin, mucous membranes, nails, and hair follicles. Systemic corticosteroids have long been treatment of choice for generalized LP. However, use of corticosteroids is limited due to multiple side effects. Methotrexate (MTX) can be used as alternative and safe modality in generalized LP. Materials and Methods: Twenty-two cases of generalized LP with comorbidities such as diabetes mellitus and hypertension and steroid-resistant and patients with side effects of long-term corticosteroids were included in this study. MTX was initiated at the dose of 7.5 mg/week. Clinical evaluation for improvement in lesions and pruritus was performed at 2nd, 4th, 8th, and 12th weeks. Results: After 12 weeks, 80% patients had excellent improvement. Patients with an excellent response were followed up. In the 6-month follow-up, four patients showed recurrence while all the remaining 12 showed complete remission. Conclusion: Results of this small study suggest that the use of weekly oral MTX can be highly effective and tolerable treatment alternative for generalized LP. ER -