Etretinate-induced skeletal muscle damage.

Three patients who received etretinate, two for psoriasis vulgaris and one for exfoliative dermatitis, developed clinical and electromyographic features of muscle damage during treatment. In one patient histological and ultrastructural findings indicated segmental muscle necrosis. Withdrawal of the drug led to clinical recovery and normalization of muscle enzyme levels and electromyogram. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report to show etretinate-induced reversible skeletal muscle damage.