Salicylic Acid 6% in an ammonium lactate emollient foam vehicle in the treatment of mild-to-moderate scalp psoriasis.

Scalp psoriasis is a common life-altering skin condition causing a great deal of distress. It significantly affects quality of life and is difficult to manage. Treatment can provide variable results, often impacting patient compliance with therapy. Salicylic acid is used as adjunctive therapy to other topical treatments because of its marked keratolytic effect. Its effectiveness as a monotherapy is not fully understood. An emollient foam formulation of 6% salicylic acid (Salkera) in an ammonium lactate vehicle has recently become available. Efficacy, tolerability and patient acceptability of salicylic acid 6% emollient foam were assessed in an open-label pilot study of 10 subjects with scalp psoriasis. All psoriasis severity parameters were reduced with a significant decrease in Psoriasis Scalp Severity Index (PSSI) score from 15.3 to 3.0 after four weeks of monotherapy (P<0.001). Sixty percent of subjects were either "completely cleared" or "almost cleared" of their psoriasis. No adverse events (AEs) were reported. All signs and symptom tolerability measures demonstrated statistically significant score decreases with the exception of oiliness severity and patient-reported burning tolerability. Salicylic acid 6% emollient foam provides a useful option in the treatment of psoriasis that is highly effective, well tolerated and acceptable to patients.