Efficacy of halcinonide cream, 0.1 percent, in the treatment of moderate and severe dermatoses.

The efficacy of halcinonide cream, 0.1 percent, was evaluated in 101 patients with moderate or severe dermatoses. Conditions of these patients included contact dermatitis, atopic dermatitis, nummular eczema, neurodermatitis, stasis dermatitis, dyshidrosis, and various combinations of these disorders. Halcinonide cream was prescribed twice or three times a day for three weeks, and patients were followed-up weekly during this period. Sixteen patients stopped treatment after two weeks because their lesions had cleared. By the end of three weeks, the condition in 46 of the patients had completely resolved, the condition in 39 showed marked improvement, the condition in 10 had improved moderately, the condition in 5 showed mild improvement, and the condition in 1 did not show any improvement. No local or systemic side effects were reported. We conclude that halcinonide cream is an effective and safe topical therapy in the short-term treatment of a variety of moderate to severe steroid-responsive dermatoses.