Hyperpigmentation due to calcipotriol (MC 903) plus heliotherapy in psoriatic patients. Three case reports

Calcipotriol is a synthetic analogue of vitamin D, used in the treatment of psoriasis. Until now no specific sid-effects have been described after combined therapy with calcipotriol and UV. We describe 3 patients, who in the summer of 1993, after a combined treatment of calcipotriol and heliotherapy, developed hyperpigmentation in the site where the ointment had been applied. Hyperpigmentation healed spontaneously in less than 7 months. To the best of our knowledge there are no other reports of this side-effect due to calcipotriol. In our opinion the fact that the 3 patients presented the hyperpigmentation only on the treated lesions and that, in the past, they had not presented similar lesions after exposure to sunlight confirms the relationship between the hyperpigmentation and the combined treatment used.