The British journal of dermatology
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Topical tretinoin (retinoic acid) improves melasma. A vehicle-controlled, clinical trial.
Melasma is a common disorder of cutaneous hyperpigmentation predominantly affecting the faces of women. Little is known about the aetiology of melasma, and treatment is frequently disappointing. Topical tretinoin is of benefit in treating other forms of hyperpigmentation, for example liver spots, and we therefore investigated its effectiveness in melasma. ⋯ Reduction in epidermal pigment also correlated with clinical lightening (r = -0.41, P = 0.01). Moderate cutaneous side-effects of erythema and desquamation occurred in 88% of tretinoin-treated and 29% of vehicle-treated patients. Topical 0.1% tretinoin produces significant clinical improvement of melasma, mainly due to reduction in epidermal pigment, but improvement is slow.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
Taking the 'sting' out of local anaesthetics.
In order to investigate factors influencing the discomfort caused by the injection of different lignocaine preparations, a randomized, double-blind comparison of paired injections was performed in 32 patients. In all subjects 2% plain lignocaine was found to be more painful than 0.5% plain lignocaine. ⋯ The presence of sodium metabisulphite (the antioxidant in commercial adrenalized lignocaine) significantly increased the discomfort. Neutralization of acidic 0.5% lignocaine (pH 4.7) reduced the discomfort caused in 44% of patients, but this was not statistically significant.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Treatment of chronic urticaria with cetirizine dihydrochloride a non-sedating antihistamine.
The efficacy of cetirizine dihydrochloride, a new H1-antagonist with minimal sedative or anticholinergic side effects was evaluated in 30 patients with chronic idiopathic urticaria. In the first part of the study, cetirizine 10 mg and placebo were compared in a double-blind cross-over trial. In the second part, patients who did not respond adequately in the first part were randomized, still double-blind, to receive 10 mg cetirizine either once daily or twice daily. ⋯ Cetirizine dihydrochloride was found significantly to reduce occurrence of weals, erythema and pruritus compared with placebo (P less than 0.001). Twenty-six of the patients improved on cetirizine and two on placebo. Mild sedation was noted by two patients on cetirizine and by one on placebo.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Clinical Trial
Prophylactic PUVA and UVB therapy in polymorphic light eruption--a controlled trial.
A double-blind controlled trial of low-dose prophylactic oral psoralen photochemotherapy (PUVA) and ultraviolet-B (UVB) irradiation therapy was undertaken from April to September 1983 in 42 patients with polymorphic light eruption (PLE). Patients were randomly allocated to three groups, PUVA with oral 8-methoxypsoralen (8-MOP), UVB with oral placebo, and control low-dose UVA with oral placebo. ⋯ Patients recorded their symptoms on a visual analogue scale. Symptoms of rash and itch in patients treated with PUVA and UVB were significantly less affected by increasing exposure to ultraviolet radiation than were these symptoms in control patients.
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Randomized Controlled Trial Comparative Study Clinical Trial
A clinical trial with hydrocortisone butyrate cream in eczema.