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Diltiazem vs. nifedipine in chilblains: a clinical trial
A K Patra1, A L Das, P Ramadasan
1Department of Dermatology, STD &Leprosy, Military Hospital, Agra, India, India.
Background:
The treatment of chilblains remains unsatisfactory. Nifedipine in higher doses remains the mainstay of treatment.
Aims:
To compare the efficacy of diltiazem with that of nifedipine, and to determine the efficacy of nifedipine in lower doses, 36 chilblains cases were studied.
Material And Methods:
Group A (12 patients) was treated with diltiazem 60 mg thrice daily, and Group B (24 patients) with 10 mg nifedipine thrice daily till complete relief and then maintained on a sustained release preparation of nifedipine 20 mg twice daily.
Results:
Two patients in Group A showed complete relief in 7 days, and 3 patients in about 21 days, but in 7 cases there was little or no response. In group B, 21 cases showed 80-90% relief by the fourteenth day.
Conclusions:
We conclude that nifedipine remains the drug of choice in chilblains but can be used in a smaller dosage in the Indian population. Diltiazem is less effective in the conventional dose, which may be optimized.
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