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 -