Nail lichen planus: response to treatment and long term follow-up

In our twenty years' experience of dermatological visits specifically for nail diseases, we saw 105 patients with pathologically proven nail lichen planus. We prescribed treatment to 75 of these patients and we report here the results of treatment. Twenty-seven of these patients were followed-up for more than 5 years (mean follow-up was 10 years): 9 of them (9/27 = 33.3%) did not respond to treatment with steroids (intramuscular or intralesional), 18 were cured (18/27 = 66.7%), 11 relapsed (11/27 = 40.7%). This study is important for the fact that no one has previously published the results of such a long follow-up of patients with nail lichen planus.