Combined therapeutic use of oral alitretinoin and narrowband ultraviolet-B therapy in the treatment of Hailey-Hailey disease


Submitted: 26 August 2014
Accepted: 26 October 2014
Published: 3 November 2014
Abstract Views: 3940
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Authors

  • Kaitlin A. Vanderbeck Department of Medicine, Northern Ontario School of Medicine, Greater Sudbury, Canada.
  • Lyne Giroux Department of Medicine, University of Ottawa, Canada.
  • Nirosha J. Murugan Behavioural Neuroscience Program, and Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Laurentian University, Greater Sudbury, Canada.
  • Lukasz M. Karbowski Behavioural Neuroscience Program, and Department of Biomolecular Sciences, Laurentian University, Greater Sudbury, Canada.
Hailey-Hailey disease (HHD) is a chronic familial bullous disease characterized by recurrent blisters and erosions typically at friction-prone areas of the body accompanied by acantholysis upon histologic examination. There are a number of therapies used in the management of HHD. Its symptoms have been effectively treated with antimicrobial therapies, corticosteroids and other agents such as cyclosporine and prednisone. However, such treatments are not always effective. Therefore, there is a need for new treatments for the management of HHD. In this report, a patient with long-standing HHD responsive only to high levels of prednisone is described. After the successful tapering and cessation of oral prednisone the patient began a new combination therapy of complementary doses of oral alitretinoin, and narrowband UVB therapy, which yielded a favorable response within 2-3 weeks. After 6 weeks, a mono-therapy of daily (30 mg) oral alitretinoin was sufficient to maintain successful near-complete remission of the disease.

Supporting Agencies


Vanderbeck, K. A., Giroux, L., Murugan, N. J., & Karbowski, L. M. (2014). Combined therapeutic use of oral alitretinoin and narrowband ultraviolet-B therapy in the treatment of Hailey-Hailey disease. Dermatology Reports, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.4081/dr.2014.5604

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