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Re‐examining crude coal tar treatment for psoriasis
Author(s) -
WILLIAMS R. E. A.,
TILLMAN D. M.,
WHITE S. I.,
BARNETT E. L.,
MACKIE R. M.
Publication year - 1992
Publication title -
british journal of dermatology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.304
H-Index - 179
eISSN - 1365-2133
pISSN - 0007-0963
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2133.1992.tb00108.x
Subject(s) - coal tar , psoriasis , tar (computing) , regimen , medicine , coal , chemistry , dermatology , chromatography , surgery , organic chemistry , computer science , programming language
Summary Two separate. double‐blind, randomized, half‐and‐half body comparisons, each involving 20 inpatients with psoriasis, were conducted to compare the effect of different concentrations of crude coal tar in yellow soft paraffin. The therapeutic effect of 1% crude coal tar used twice daily for 10 days was significantly less than that achieved with an incremental regimen starting at 5% and increasing by 5% every second day to a maximum of 25%. No such difference was seen when a steady concentration of 5% was compared with the same incremental regimen. We conclude that there appears to be no benefit from exceeding a concentration of 5% crude coal tar in yellow soft paraffin in the treatment of patients with psoriasis and that the plateau in the dose‐response curve for the action of crude coal tar in psoriasis begins at a point between 1 and 5%.