Successful treatment of chronic skin diseases with clobetasol propionate and a hydrocolloid occlusive dressing.

The lesions of 141 patients with chronic skin diseases unresponsive to therapy were treated once a week with clobetasol propionate lotion left under the completely occlusive patch Duoderm. In 131 patients the lesions resolved completely, while partial remission was observed in the remaining 10. The mean interval to complete remission was: for chronic plaque psoriasis, 12 days; psoriasis on palms and soles, 2.5 weeks; palmoplantar pustulosis, 2.2 weeks; skin lesions of Reiter's syndrome, 3 weeks; chronic lichenified eczema, 2.0 weeks; neurodermatitis, 3.1 weeks; breast eczema, 9 days; discoid lupus erythematosus, 3.7 weeks; lichen planus, 2.8 weeks; sarcoidosis, 4 weeks; and lichen sclerosus et atrophicus, 2 weeks. Other conditions benefitting from the treatment were pompholyx, necrobiosis lipoidica, granuloma annulare and pretibial myxedema. The amount of topical corticosteroids needed was reduced to at most 1/20 and to as little as 1/100, compared with common topical steroid preparations.