Pentoxifylline: An effective therapy for necrobiosis lipoidica.

Necrobiosis lipoidica (NL) is a rare chronic inflammatory granulomatous skin disorder that remains challenging to treat. Here we report three patients at different stages of disease successfully treated with pentoxifylline, a haemorrheological and anti-inflammatory agent. We demonstrate for the first time that early stage NL may be completely reversible with this treatment. Our findings are also consistent with previous isolated reports showing the effectiveness of pentoxifylline in treating ulcerative NL.