THALIDOMIDE TREATMENT OF CHRONIC ERYTHEMA MULTIFORME RECURRENT AND CONTINUOUS VARIANTS - A RETROSPECTIVE STUDY OF 26 PATIENTS

Introduction. The objective of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of thalidomide in the treatment of chronic erythema multiforme unresp onsive to usual treatments. Patients and methods. Twenty-six patients with chronic erythema multiforme were given thalidomide 100 mg/day aft er other treatments had failed, particularly acyclovir and prednisone. Resuts. Twenty patients had recurrent erythema multiforme and were gi ven thalidomide at the beginning of an episode. The duration of the ep isodes was reduced by 11 days on the average. Six of the patients had subintrant erythema multiforme and were given continuous treatment. Le sions disappeared within 5 to 8 days and remission was maintained with low dose-treatment. Discussion. The spectacular results obtained here should be verified in a controlled study.