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Transdermal application of prostaglandin E 1 ethyl ester for the treatment of trophic acral skin lesions in a patient with systemic scleroderma
Author(s) -
Schlez A,
Kittel M,
Scheurle B,
Diehm C,
Jünger M
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
journal of the european academy of dermatology and venereology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.655
H-Index - 107
eISSN - 1468-3083
pISSN - 0926-9959
DOI - 10.1046/j.1468-3083.2002.00433.x
Subject(s) - medicine , scleroderma (fungus) , systemic scleroderma , connective tissue disease , transdermal , dermatology , refractory (planetary science) , systemic disease , clinical trial , prostaglandin , surgery , disease , pathology , autoimmune disease , pharmacology , physics , astrobiology , inoculation , dermatomyositis
An early clinical symptom in scleroderma patients is Raynaud's phenomenon. Later cutaneous manifestations of the disease include oedematous swelling in the extremities and in more extreme cases often very painful, refractory acral necroses. We report on a 56‐year‐old female patient who participated in a prospective, double‐blind, multicentre comparative pilot study because of her severe Raynaud symptoms, with dystrophic skin lesions on both hands. The goal of the study was to evaluate the efficacy and safety of prostaglandin E 1 ethyl ester in a transdermal drug delivery system compared with placebo in patients with secondary Raynaud's phenomenon associated with systemic scleroderma or mixed connective tissue disease. After 2 weeks of verum treatment the patient experienced a marked improvement of Raynaud's attacks, with increased capillary flow velocity, reduced blood stasis and clinical healing of the acral trophic lesions. For this patient the transdermal application of prostaglandin E 1 ethyl ester in the form of a medicated patch proved to be a simple and effective therapy for the acral trophic skin lesions associated with systemic scleroderma.