Efficacy of etretinate (Tigason) in symptomatic oral lichen planus.

This study evaluated the maximum permitted dosage of etretinate (75 mg/day) as the first mode of systemic treatment of patients with symptomatic oral lichen planus. Six patients were treated and examined objectively and subjectively every 2 weeks for 2 months. At the end of the study 50% of patients reached an asymptomatic stage; improvement of clinical signs and symptoms was noted in all patients. However, on reevaluation 2 months after treatment was discontinued some clinical signs of recurrence were seen in all patients. Further follow-up for more than a year showed that the patients had reverted to the same frequency of recurrence as before the systemic use of etretinate.