Short-duration ('minutes') therapy with dithranol for psoriasis: a new out-patient regimen

Eighty-five patients with widespread psoriasis were treated with daily short-term applications of dithranol and salicylic acid in yellow soft paraffin. Two different schedules were used: (1) '3-h' therapy using increasing dithranol concentrations (o.I, o.25, o.5, I, 2%) for 3 h; (2) 'minutes' therapy using high dithranol concentrations (I, 2, 3%) for only 10-20 min. In comparison with the standard dithranol therapy, applied for 24 h each day, the '3-h' therapy showed equal efficacy clinically and histologically, and the 'minutes' therapy was significantly better than the standard therapy, reducing the mean clearing time by 6.8 days. Daily short-term ('minutes') therapy combines all the advantages of dithranol with a convenient and readily acceptable mode of application for home use.