Acitretin therapy for children with PP (monotherapy or combination therapy), all showed a satisfactory therapeutic effect and safety, independent of the short or long-tern therapeutic procedures.

The IL-4 -590C/T polymorphism may contribute to AD susceptibility in the overall population and children, especially for Asian children, but large well-designed studies are warranted to confirm this conclusion.

No abstract

Long-term systemic treatment with acitretin for severe hyperkeratotic disorders is needed to maintain quality of life of afflicted patients, but treatment has been limited owing to its potential side-effects including skeletal malformations, particularly for children during their growth and development. A retrospective investigation was conducted with three children afflicted with a severe hyperkeratotic disorder, namely Darier's disease, bullous ichthyosiform erythroderma or lamellar ichthyosis, who were continuously maintained on 0.2-0.3 mg/kg per day acitretin for more than 12 years after an initial period at a larger acitretin dose to bring each disease under control. The patients had good responses to acitretin treatment, which was assessed for safety, skeletal abnormalities, growth retardation and other potential side-effects. Acitretin monotherapy was an effective treatment for these children, and maintenance doses were well tolerated with no skeletal or other observable side-effects during the course of the study.