Treatment of chronic actinic dermatitis with azathioprine

Abstract

Patients (14) with severe unremitting chronic actinic dermatitis were treated with oral azathioprine in a dosage of 100-200 mg daily for a mean of 11.5 mo. Clinical improvement, apparently permanent, occurred after a few weeks to several months and continued for up to 2 yr. Patients (9) cleared or improved markedly, 1 patient cleared and then relapsed again on treatment, 2 patients showed no response and 2 patients needed to discontinue therapy because of gastrointestinal side-effects. In many patients azathioprine can be a very effective therapy for this extremely incapacitating disease.