Betamethasone: A dermatological clinical evaluation.

The purpose of this study was to determine under carefully controlled clinical conditions the relative anti-inflammatory and anti-pruritic action of betamethasone as compared with prednisone and a placebo. A total of 130 consecutive patients with atopic dermatitis, primary irritant dermatitis, nummular eczema, allergic eczematous contact dermatitis, sweat retention, seborrheic dermatitis and pruritus were selected for study. Under the conditions of this clinical trial, the samples indicated a difference in anti-inflammatory and anti-pruritic response to the therapeutic agents used. The difference between betamethasone and the placebo was highly significant, and the difference in these measured responses was studied on the basis of a careful evaluation and statistically. The result of this study corroborates statistically our clinical impression regarding the therapeutic effect of betamethasone.