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Pimecrolimus Slightly More Effective Than Tacrolimus in Treatment of Paediatric Atopic Eczema: Presented at EADV

By Bonnie Darves

BARCELONA, SPAIN -- October 22, 2003 -- The new topical inflammatory-cykotine inhibitor pimecrolimus might be slightly more effective than another relatively new same-class medication, tacrolimus, in treating paediatric atopic eczema.

Preliminary results of a study presented here October 17^th at the European Academy of Dermatology & Venerology Congress found that young patients who received 1% pimecrolimus for 6 weeks had a 53.7% reduction in head-and-neck surface area affected, compared with a 34.9% reduction with 0.03% tacrolimus ointment.

Less substantial differences in effectiveness were seen in other body areas, according to lead author Steven Kempers, MD, Minnesota Clinical Study Center, Fridley, Minnesota, United States, and tacrolimus was more efficacious than pimecrolimus in lower-limb areas.

In the two-phase, randomised, multicentre study, 71 patients with a mean age of 8.1 years, received pimecrolimus and 70 were treated with tacrolimus for 6 weeks. A 20-week open-label phase followed, during which all patients received pimecrolimus. Investigators were blinded to the 6-week results.

Patients who had received systemic corticosteroids or phototherapy in the month prior to the start of the study were excluded. Based on mean investigator global assessment (IGA) at baseline, approximately 70% of patients in both groups had moderate disease.

Application-site reactions were slightly less common with pimecrolimus than with tacrolimus, and these reactions were of shorter duration with pimecrolimus than with tacrolimus. Patients also gave pimecrolimus better rating for ease of use and tolerability on facial skin.

Overall incidence of adverse events was 85.9% for pimecrolimus and 84.3% for tacrolimus, but most of these were not related to treatment. In the pimecrolimus group, five patients discontinued because of adverse events, four of which were not related to treatment, Dr. Kempers noted.

He noted that patients reported comparable skin dryness with both medications, which was surprising since the investigators had expected to find that the tacrolimus ointment would provide better protection against dryness.


[Study title: Comparison of Pimecrolimus Cream 1% and Tacrolimus Ointment 0.03% in Paediatric Patients with Atopic Eczema. Poster Presentation 2.41]

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