Comparative efficacy of once-daily flurandrenolide tape versus twice-daily diflorasone diacetate ointment in the treatment of psoriasis.

BACKGROUND: Flurandrenolide tape has recently been listed as a group I topical corticosteroid. There are no studies that compare this product to group I ointments in the treatment of steroid-responsive dermatoses. OBJECTIVE: Our purpose was to determine the relative efficacy of flurandrenolide (4 microg/cm2) tape versus 0.05% diflorasone diacetate ointment in plaque psoriasis. METHODS: Thirty patients participated in an investigator-blinded, randomized, bilateral paired-comparison study of flurandrenolide tape applied to lesions of one side of the body once daily for up to 16 hours versus diflorasone diacetate ointment applied contralaterally twice daily. Lesions were assessed at baseline, then reevaluated at 2 and 4 weeks. RESULTS: Flurandrenolide tape-treated plaques showed consistently greater clearing in terms of erythema, scaling, induration, and treatment success for all plaques, as well as the subset of knee and elbow plaques, when compared with the lesions receiving diflorasone diacetate ointment. CONCLUSION: The efficacy of flurandrenolide tape in the treatment of psoriatic plaques surpasses that of diflorasone diacetate ointment.

Safety and efficacy of 0.5% podofilox gel in the treatment of anogenital warts.

OBJECTIVE: To determine the safety and efficacy of a new gel formulation of podofilox in the treatment of anogenital warts. DESIGN: Double-blind, randomized, multicenter, vehicle-controlled investigation. SETTING: Private dermatology practices, university clinics (dermatology, gynecology, and infectious diseases), and contract research organizations. PATIENTS: Three hundred twenty-six patients with anogenital warts. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE: Number of patients with clearing of all treated warts (treatment success). RESULTS: The 0.5% podofilox gel was significantly better than vehicle gel for successfully eliminating and reducing the number and size of anogenital warts. In the intent-to-treat population, 62 (37.1%) of 167 patients treated with 0.5% podofilox gel had complete clearing of the treated areas (treatment successes) compared with 2 (2.3%) of 86 patients who had clearing of warts with the vehicle gel (P < .001) after 4 weeks. Nineteen additional patients treated with 0.5% podofilox gel and 2 patients treated with vehicle gel had clearing of warts with continued treatment up to 8 weeks. After 8 weeks, 35.9% of the baseline anogenital warts treated with 0.5% podofilox gel remained; this was significantly fewer than in the vehicle-treated group (88.4% of the baseline number) (P = .001). The 0.5% podofilox gel was generally well tolerated, with predominantly mild or moderate local adverse reactions occurring in the majority of patients. Only 7 patients (3.2%), all receiving 0.5% podofilox gel, discontinued study treatment because of drug-related local reactions. CONCLUSIONS: The results demonstrated that 0.5% podofilox gel is safe and significantly more effective than vehicle gel in the treatment of anogenital warts.

Intraocular fluid dynamics. Measurements following vitrectomy and intraocular sulfur hexafluoride administration.

Partial vitrectomies were performed in rabbits, replacing 40% of initial vitreous volume with 100% sulfur hexafluoride, and concentrations of sodium, potassium, calcium, magnesium, ascorbate, and protein were determined in aqueous and vitreous at 10, 14, 21, 28, 56, and 110 days. There were significant increases of potassium, calcium, magnesium, and protein above control values at varying times throughout the study. Vitreous potassium concentration was decreased at 14 and 21 days. All other measurements were similar to control values. Results of studies indicate that, following vitrectomy in rabbits, the blood-retinal barrier can re-form in 14 days and blood-aqueous barrier in ten days. However, a greater than normal exchange diffusion of these measured substances occurs between aqueous and vitreous through 21 days. Four eyes with cataracts, vitreous membranes, and/or detached retinas demonstrated elevated aqueous and vitreous protein concentrations through 110 days, although other measurements returned to normal levels.

Intraocular sulfur hexafluoride and octofluorocyclobutane. Effects on intraocular pressure and vitreous volume.

Partial vitrectomies were performed on rabbits and the amount of vitreous removed was replaced with either 100% sulfur hexafluoride (SF6), 100% octofluorocyclobutane (freon-C318), 40% SF6, or air. Intraocular pressure and vitreous volume were determined. Replacing 40% of the initial vitreous volume with either 100% SF6 or 100% octofluorocyclobutane caused an increase over 20 mm Hg in the IOP with an associated loss of the remaining vitreous, whereas replacement with 40% SF6 or air caused no significant increase in IOP. Replacement with 40% SF6 caused a significant loss of the remaining vitreous, whereas the air replacement did not result in a vitreous loss. The experiments were repeated substituting only 20% of initial vitreous volume with 100% SF6 and 100% octofluorocyclobutane. Using this amount of SF6 and octofluorocyclobutane, the IOP did not increase but an associated vitreous loss occurred equal to twice the amount of SF6 injected and three times the amount of octofluorocyclobutane injected.