Acne inversa. New treatment option with dapsone

Acne inversa is a chronic disease with a major impact on the quality of lif e. Therapeutic options were long restricted to local disinfectants and syst emic antibiotics, as well as repeated incision and drainage which produce o nly short term benefits. Retinoids, antiandrogens and radiation therapy are only partially successful. The best approach appears to be surgical remova l of the entire apocrine sweat gland apparatus. Dapsone is used in dermatol ogy to treat inflammatory dermatoses such as dermatitis herpetiformis and p yoderma gangrenosum,and was formerly the treatment of choice for acne congl obata. We report its successful use in acne inversa. Five female patients a ged 23-40 years with acne inversa for a mean of 9.6 years were included. Al l patients showed an almost complete resolution of their symptoms within 2- 4 weeks. All patients rated the treatment results with dapsone as good or v ery good. The treatment was well tolerated and no important side effects oc curred. Because of its lack of teratogenicity, dapsone may be the most favo rable treatment option in young women with acne inversa.