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Title: Tazarotene Gel Improves Fingernail Psoriasis: Presented at WCD

"Tazarotene Gel Improves Fingernail Psoriasis: Presented at WCD"

By Jill Stein Special to DG News PARIS, FRANCE -- July 2, 2002 -- Evening application of tazarotene 0.1 percent gel to psoriatic fingernails can produce an impressive clinical improvement. Dr. Richard K. Scher and colleagues at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center in New York, New York, presented the results today at the 20th World Congress of Dermatology (WCD). Their study enrolled 31 patients with psoriasis affecting at least two fingernails. Patients were randomised to either tazarotene 0.1 percent gel or vehicle gel. They applied the gel to each target fingernail and the surrounding nail folds every evening for up to 24 weeks. One target fingernail was occluded with polyethylene film during the treatment period. No other medications were allowed on the fingernails. All patients were adults with psoriasis that was characterized by at least three of the following: pitting, onycholysis, subungual hyperkeratosis, leukonychia, nail plate crumbling and/or loss, splinter hemorrhages, and nail bed discoloration. Patients were ineligible if they had psoriasis for less than six months or if either of their two target fingernails (designated by the investigator) had a positive potassium hydroxide (KOH) or dermatophyte/fungal culture. Results showed that tazarotene was consistently more effective than the vehicle gel in reducing onycholysis in occluded nails and nonoccluded nails. Tazarotene was also significantly more effective in reducing pitting in occluded nails. There were no other significant differences between the two groups. Five patients (all in the tazarotene group) reported treatment-related adverse events, which included peeling and erythema of proximal nail fold skin, skin irritation, periungual irritation, and paronychia. All such adverse events were mild or moderate. The study was sponsored by Allergan Skin Care of Irvine, California.

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