Porphyria cutanea tarda treated with short-term high-dose hydroxychloroquine: a case report

Porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) is a kind of porphyria, which is a rare metabolic disorder with skin damage as a manifestation. The disease is mainly caused by an inherited or acquired deficiency of uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase, the fifth enzyme in heme synthesis. It is manifested primarily in patients with elevated skin fragility and greater sensitivity to sunlight.

We report here a 64-year-old Chinese male. After relevant tests, he was diagnosed with PCT. He was treated with a different regimen of oral higher doses of hydroxychloroquine (2×100 mg twice a day). After 2 weeks of treatment, the improvement of his symptoms was very obvious, with rapid regression of the lesions and no new ones. Importantly, the disease did not recur after discontinuation of the drug.

In this case, we believe that short-term oral high-dose hydroxychloroquine can lead to rapid remission in patients with PCT. On the one hand, this treatment option reduces the economic and time costs of treating PCT compared to previous treatment options. On the other hand, a significant treatment effect in a short period of time can motivate the patient to be more aggressive in his treatment. Therefore, this short-term oral high-dose hydroxychloroquine regimen may be a better option for the treatment of PCT.