Ann Dermatol.  2016 Oct;28(5):569-574. 10.5021/ad.2016.28.5.569.

A Comparative Study of Oral Cyclosporine and Betamethasone Minipulse Therapy in the Treatment of Alopecia Areata

• Jang YH
• Kim SL
• Lee KC
• Kim MJ
• Park KH
• Lee WJ
• Lee SJ
• Kim DW

• KMID: 2382880
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5021/ad.2016.28.5.569

Abstract

BACKGROUND
Various systemic agents have been assessed for the treatment of alopecia areata (AA); however, there is a paucity of comparative studies.
OBJECTIVE
To assess and compare cyclosporine and betamethasone minipulse therapy as treatments for AA with regard to effectiveness and safety.
METHODS
Data were collected from 88 patients who received at least 3 months of oral cyclosporine (n=51) or betamethasone minipulse therapy (n=37) for AA. Patients with ≥50% of terminal hair regrowth in the alopecic area were considered responders.
RESULTS
The responder of the cyclosporine group was 54.9% and that of the betamethasone minipulse group was 37.8%. In the cyclosporine group, patients with mild AA were found to respond better to the treatment. Based on the patient self-assessments, 70.6% of patients in the cyclosporine group and 43.2% of patients in the betamethasone minipulse group rated their hair regrowth as excellent or good. Side effects were less frequent in the cyclosporine group.
CONCLUSION
Oral cyclosporine appeared to be superior to betamethasone minipulse therapy in terms of treatment effectiveness and safety.

Keyword

Alopecia areata; Betamethasone; Comparative study; Cyclosporine; Pulse drug therapy

MeSH Terms

Alopecia Areata*
Alopecia*
Betamethasone*
Cyclosporine*
Hair
Humans
Pulse Therapy, Drug
Self-Assessment
Treatment Outcome
Betamethasone
Cyclosporine

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Treatment responses according to the extent of alopecia at baseline. AA: alopecia areata, AT: alopecia totalis, AU: alopecia universalis. Extent of alopecia at baseline: mild AA: S1 (<25% scalp hair loss), S2 (25%~49%). Severe AA: S3 (50%~74%), S4 (75%~99%), AT, AU.

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  Fig. 2 Treatment responses according to age at onset. Onset age of AA: early-onset AA: <30 years at the onset of AA, late-onset AA: ≥30 years at the onset of AA. *p<0.05.

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  Fig. 3 Treatment responses according to duration of disease.

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  Fig. 4 Patient self-assessments of treatment responses. *p<0.05.

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