Childhood lichen sclerosus: a long-term follow-up

Lichen sclerosus (LS) shows a predilection for the genital area and occurs mostly in postmenopausal women and in prepubertal girls. We conducted a retrospective review of 15 young girls whit genital LS with onset before the menarcheal age and treated with topical clobetasol propionate 0.05%. The mean duration of follow-up was 4.7 years with relapses in nine patients after approximately 1 year from the first clearing. At the end of the study we observed that (i) potent topical steroids are safe and effective in childhood, (ii) an early aggressive treatment gives the best therapeutic response, (iii) one follow-up visit a year is required to monitor for relapsing.