[Treatment of bullous pemphigoid with prednisolone only: 0.75 mg/kg/day versus 1.25 mg/kg/day. A multicenter randomized study].

Systemic corticosteroids for the treatment of bullous pemphigoid are an accepted therapeutic measure among dermatologists. Nevertheless, the best initial dosage is still unknown. The purpose of the present study was to compare the efficacy and safety of two dosages of prednisolone used as a single therapeutic agent: 0.75 mg/kg/day versus 1.25 mg/kg/day for three weeks. Fifty patients with bullous pemphigoid confirmed by direct cutaneous immunofluorescence were included in this study in different centers. They were randomly assigned to one of two groups: 24 patients were treated with prednisolone 0.75 mg/kg/day (group I) and 22 patients were treated with 1.25 mg/kg/day (group II). Four patients had to be excluded from this study. The low and high dosage prednisolone groups do not show a statistically significant difference from each other after 51 days. At day 21, 58 p. 100 of the patients in group I were disease-free, and 64 p. 100 in group II. At day 51, after a slow decrease of prednisolone therapy (half of the initial dosage per day), 33 p. 100 of the patients in group I were still free of skin lesions, and 55 p. 100 in group II.

RCT Entities:   Population Interventions Outcomes