BID Pimecrolimus for 1 Month Best for Facial Seborrheic Dermatitis

HealthDay News — Pimecrolimus 1% cream applied twice a day for 4 weeks seems to be the best regimen for patients with facial seborrheic dermatitis, according to a study published online in the Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology.

Juemin Zhao, MD, from Fudan University in Shanghai, and colleagues examined the comparative efficacy of pimecrolimus 1% cream with different treatment regimens in 30 patients with facial seborrheic dermatitis. The regimens included treatment with topical pimecrolimus cream twice daily for 2 weeks then a moisturizer cream twice daily for 2 weeks (Group 1), pimecrolimus cream 1% twice daily for 2 weeks then once daily for 2 weeks (Group 2), and a consecutive course of pimecrolimus cream twice daily for 4 weeks (Group 3).

The researchers observed significant decreases in the clinical severity scores of all 3 regimens at week 4 (P <.01). Compared with groups 1 and 2, group 3 had a more remarkable improvement in total severity score (P <.05); in group 3 this effect was maintained to the end of the study. All 3 groups had significantly improved life quality at week 4 (P <.001), while no significant difference was seen between the groups in improvement of life quality.

“We recommend pimecrolimus 1% cream could be applied twice a dayfor 4 weeks to treat seborrheic dermatitis,” the authors write.

Reference

Zhao J, Sun W, Zhang C, et al. Comparison of different regimens of pimecrolimus 1% cream in the treatment of facial seborrheic dermatitis [published online June 7, 2017]. J Cosmet Dermatol. doi:10.1111/jocd.12353