Efficacy of a betamethasone dipropionate topical glycol preparation in the management of severe psoriasis.

A multicenter, double-blind clinical evaluation of three formulations of betamethasone dipropionate was conducted in 258 patients with severe psoriasis. The results obtained after a standard two-week treatment period clearly indicated that a new glycol preparation produced significantly greater improvement than the ointment and cream formulations currently in clinical use. Twenty-one percent of the patients treated with the new formulation had clearing of all signs and symptoms of psoriasis within the two-week span. Sixty-eight percent of those treated with this new preparation reported complete disappearance of scaling, the major cosmetically disturbing sign of the disease. Adverse drug effects were uncommon and were of a limited dermatologic nature. They were equally distributed among treatment groups