Photographic assessment of tretinoin microsphere gel in moderate acne

True objective measures for assessing responsiveness to acne treatments are lacking. Photographic documentation can therefore be a valuable adjunct to treatment assessment.

To photographically document the ability of tretinoin microsphere gel (TMG) 0.1% in improving facial acne.

A standardized photographic technique was used to assess the efficacy and tolerability of TMG 0.1% applied once nightly for 12 weeks in an open-label trial involving 30 patients (Caucasian and Hispanic) ages 11 to 40 years with moderately severe facial acne.

An assessment of frontal, left-sided, and right-sided color photographs at week 12 indicated that TMG 0.1% reduced total, noninflammatory, and inflammatory acne lesion counts by 47.8%, 53.5%, and 33.2%, respectively; and produced an "excellent/ good" investigator's global evaluation (4-point scale) treatment response in 63.6% of patients. Tretinoin microsphere gel 0.1% was well tolerated, and more than 63% of subjects did not exhibit cutaneous adverse effects at week 12.

The standardized photographic technique proved to be a useful tool for documenting the efficacy of TMG 0.1% in consistently and significantly improving moderately severe facial acne over a 12-week treatment period.