Oral isotretinoin treatment in patients with acne vulgaris during the COVID-19 pandemic: A retrospective cohort study in a tertiary care hospital.
J Cosmet Dermatol
; 20(7): 1969-1974, 2021 Jul.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE | ID: covidwho-1197160
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND:
Patients with acne vulgaris continue to present increasingly in dermatology outpatient clinics and seek treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic. As far as we know, the effect of isotretinoin on COVID-19 has not been studied before.AIM:
We aimed to evaluate whether patients receiving oral isotretinoin are at increased risk of COVID-19 infection by comparing them with patients on topical treatment for acne vulgaris.METHODS:
The data were collected retrospectively from a cohort of 267 acne vulgaris patients, who were under follow-up for acne vulgaris treatment during the pandemic period.RESULTS:
Total of 227 patients (141 receiving isotretinoin treatment and 86 receiving topical treatment) were included of whom 29 patients had COVID-19 infection during acne vulgaris treatment. Fifteen (10.6%) patients were receiving oral isotretinoin and 14 (16.3%) were receiving topical acne treatment at the time of COVID-19 infection. The mean cumulative dose was 2340 ± 1988 mg at the time of COVID-19 infection. The mean elapsed time between the onset of isotretinoin treatment and positive PCR result for COVID-19 was 13.3 ± 10.3 weeks. Nine patients (64.3%) receiving isotretinoin treatment and 9 patients (60%) under topical treatment had loss of taste and smell during COVID-19 infection. Isotretinoin treatment was not found to be associated with a significant increased risk of getting COVID-19 (odds ratio, 0.671; 95% confidence interval, 0.247-1.823; P = 0.434).CONCLUSION:
As a conclusion, the results of this study encourage dermatologists and acne vulgaris patients to initiate oral isotretinoin treatment safely during the pandemic period.Keywords
Full text:
Available
Collection:
International databases
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Acne Vulgaris
/
Dermatologic Agents
/
COVID-19
Type of study:
Cohort study
/
Experimental Studies
/
Observational study
/
Prognostic study
Limits:
Humans
Language:
English
Journal:
J Cosmet Dermatol
Journal subject:
Dermatology
Year:
2021
Document Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
Jocd.14168
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