Author(s)

Yuiko Nagata, Atsushi Tanemura, Emi Ono, Aya Tanaka, Kenichi Kato, Mizuho Yamada, Ichiro Katayama

Department of Dermatology, Integrated Medicine Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, Suita, Japan.

Although the administration of systemic steroid for nonsegmental vitiligo in the progressive stage is a recommended treatment according to guidelines, the clinical efficacy of this regimen has not been fully established. In this study, we evaluated the clinical efficacy of half-dose steroid treatment and stratified the evidence regarding its usefulness in progressive vitiligo patients. Half-dose steroid pulse therapy (500 mg/day of methylprednisolone for three sequential days) was administered intravenously three times monthly in five vitiligo patients. The visual changes in vitiligo lesions were evaluated on photographs and quantified using a spectrophotometer. As results, all patients completed three cycles of treatment without severe adverse events. Three of the five patients achieved disease arrest with decrease in white contrast. Therefore, short-term and halfdose steroid therapy is well tolerated and effective for achieving disease arrest in progressive nonsegmental vitiligo. The whiteness assessed by a spectrophotometer is possibly associated with therapeutic response to steroid therapy.

Intravenous Methylprednisolone Pulse Therapy, Progressive Nonsegmental Vitiligo, Spectrophotometer

Nagata, Y. , Tanemura, A. , Ono, E. , Tanaka, A. , Kato, K. , Yamada, M. and Katayama, I. (2014) Preliminary Colorimetric Assessment of Progressive Nonsegmental Vitiligo under Short-Term Intravenous Methylprednisolone Pulse Therapy. Journal of Cosmetics, Dermatological Sciences and Applications, 4, 135-140. doi: 10.4236/jcdsa.2014.43019.