Halometasone cream and fractional CO2 combo effective against eczema

A recent study suggest that the combination of fractional CO2 laser treatment with halometasone cream is more effective in managing moderate-to-severe chronic hand eczema (CHE) compared to halometasone cream alone. The team led by Gongfeng Tang published the findings in Dermatology and Therapy.

The trial enrolled 67 patients with moderate-to-severe CHE and randomly assigned them to two groups. Group A (n = 33) received fractional CO2 laser treatment once every 4 weeks for 1–2 sessions, along with halometasone cream twice daily for 8 weeks. On the other hand, group B (n = 34) received halometasone cream alone, also twice daily for 8 weeks.

The primary objective of the study was to determine the proportion of patients achieving treatment success by week 12 in each group. The secondary endpoints included assessing changes in the hand eczema severity index (HECSI), patient global assessment (PaGA), dermatology life quality index (DLQI), and quality of life in hand eczema questionnaire (QOLHEQ) from baseline to week 12. Additionally, relapse rates and adverse effects were monitored.

Out of the initial participants, 29 patients in each group completed the trial. The results at week 12 demonstrated a treatment success rate of 62.1% (18/29) in group A compared to 27.6% (8/29) in group B (p = 0.009), clearly favoring the combination therapy.

Furthermore, both groups showed improvements in HECSI, PaGA, DLQI, and QOLHEQ scores compared to baseline (p < 0.05). However, the reduction in HECSI, DLQI, and QOLHEQ scores was significantly higher in group A compared to group B (p = 0.014, 0.010, and 0.014, respectively). Notably, there was no significant difference in the change of PaGA between the two groups (1.0 versus 3.0, p = 0.419).

Moreover, relapse rates were assessed at week 24 among patients who achieved treatment success. The data showed that only 11.1% (2/18) of patients in group A experienced a relapse, while a significantly higher relapse rate of 50.0% (4/8) was observed in group B (p = 0.011). Adverse effects were generally minimal, with skin pigmentation being the most common side effect reported.

Source:

Tang, G., Chang, Y., Wu, H., Liang, X., Liu, Y., & Zhuo, F. (2023). Efficacy and Safety of Fractional CO2 Laser Combined with Halometasone Cream for Treatment of Moderate-to-Severe Chronic Hand Eczema: A Prospective, Single-Center, Parallel-Group, Open-Label Randomized Trial. In Dermatology and Therapy. Springer Science and Business Media LLC. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13555-023-00944-w