Dapsone in a Large Tertiary Center: Outdated Therapeutic Option or Timeless Agent?

Area of Science:

• Dermatology
• Pharmacology

Background:

• Dapsone, an established antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory drug, is primarily used for neutrophil-dominant skin diseases.
• Limited real-world data exists on the long-term efficacy of dapsone across diverse dermatological conditions.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the efficacy and safety of dapsone in patients with inflammatory skin diseases.
• To assess long-term treatment outcomes in a real-world clinical setting.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of 175 patients treated with dapsone over 20 years (1998-2017).
• Inclusion criteria based on hospital database records for dapsone treatment.

Main Results:

• Dapsone was used for eosinophilic (34), neutrophilic (82), and other (59) dermatoses.
• After 3 months, 8% achieved complete remission, 40.6% improved, 30.3% stable, 9.1% progressed.
• Final evaluation: 13.2% complete response, 47.4% improvement, 25.7% stable, 12.0% progression.
• Hemolysis was the most frequent adverse event (21.7%).

Conclusions:

• Dapsone is a viable and effective treatment for various dermatological diseases.
• The drug is generally well-tolerated, safe, and cost-effective.
• Further randomized controlled trials are recommended to confirm dapsone's role.