TITLE:
Preliminary Colorimetric Assessment of Progressive Nonsegmental Vitiligo under Short-Term Intravenous Methylprednisolone Pulse Therapy
AUTHORS:
Yuiko Nagata, Atsushi Tanemura, Emi Ono, Aya Tanaka, Kenichi Kato, Mizuho Yamada, Ichiro Katayama
KEYWORDS:
Intravenous Methylprednisolone Pulse Therapy, Progressive Nonsegmental Vitiligo, Spectrophotometer
JOURNAL NAME:
Journal of Cosmetics, Dermatological Sciences and Applications,
Vol.4 No.3,
May
16,
2014
ABSTRACT:
Although the
administration of systemic steroid for nonsegmental vitiligo in the progressive
stage is a recommended treatment according to guidelines, the clinical efficacy
of this regimen has not been fully established. In this study, we evaluated the
clinical efficacy of half-dose steroid treatment and stratified the evidence
regarding its usefulness in progressive vitiligo patients. Half-dose steroid
pulse therapy (500 mg/day of methylprednisolone for three sequential days) was
administered intravenously three times monthly in five vitiligo patients. The
visual changes in vitiligo lesions were evaluated on photographs and quantified
using a spectrophotometer. As results, all patients completed three cycles of
treatment without severe adverse events. Three of the five patients achieved
disease arrest with decrease in white contrast. Therefore, short-term and halfdose
steroid therapy is well tolerated and effective for achieving disease arrest in
progressive nonsegmental vitiligo. The whiteness assessed by a
spectrophotometer is possibly associated with therapeutic response to steroid
therapy.