INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF GYNECOLOGY & OBSTETRICS, vol.96, no.2, pp.117-121, 2007 (SCI-Expanded)
Objective: To compare the effects of topical testosterone and clobetasol treatments on symptoms remission and recurrence rates in patients with vulvar lichen scierosus (LS). Methods: A retrospective review of the records showed that, of 140 patients with biopsy-proven vulvar LS, 80 were treated with applications of testosterone propionate 2% in petrolatum and 60 with clobetasol 17-propionate 0.05%. Results: The response rates after 6 months were 77.5% for patients treated with testosterone and 91.7% for those treated with clobetasol (P=0.02). The recurrence rates were 20% and 6.7% in the 2 groups, respectively (P=0.02). Premenopausal patients had higher remission rates and lower recurrence rates than postmenopausal patients (P > 0.05). Considering whole patients, low remission rates and high recurrence rates were observed in patients who had had a hysterectomy (P > 0.05). Conclusion: Treatment of LS with a corticosteroid provided excellent remission rates. In this study, clobetasol 17-propionate 0.05% was superior to testosterone for both remission induction and maintenance therapy. (c) 2006 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.