[Porphyria cutanea tarda: possible treatment and its results (author's transl)].

In 4 of 12 patients with porphyria cutanea tarda (PCT) treatment with p-aminobenzoic acid (PABA) achieved normal porphyrin excretion and disappearance of the skin changes. But this result is far worse than that obtained with the venesection method of Ippen. PABA treatment should, therefore, be discontinued.--Among 56 patients (37 males, 19 females) given chloroquine treatment (twice 125 mg per week), normal porphyrin excretion and disappearance of the skin changes occurred in 32 after an average duration of treatment of 8 months, while in 21 (15 males and 6 females) an improvement set in after an average treatment duration of only 5 months so far. The treatment failed in three patients, but one of them lapsed his treatment and one died of an intercurrent disease, so that only one can be reckoned a true failure of chloroquine treatment.