Mometasone cream versus pimecrolimus cream for the treatment of childhood localized vitiligo.

BACKGROUND: With regard to the lack of effective treatment modalities for childhood localized vitiligo, the search for newer therapeutic agents continues.

OBJECTIVE: To conduct an open, comparative trial to evaluate the clinical efficacy and safety of topical mometasone cream and pimecrolimus cream in the treatment of childhood vitiligo.

METHODS: Fifty patients with childhood vitiligo were included in the study. Patients were treated for 3 months either with mometasone cream (0.1%) once daily or with pimecrolimus cream (1%) twice daily.

RESULTS: Forty patients, 20 from each group, completed the study. The two drugs were found to be statistically significantly effective for diminishing lesion size (Z = 3.070,p = 0.002 andZ = 3.845,p < 0.001, respectively). There were no statistical differences between the two drugs:Z = 1.427,p = 0.154 (mometasone non-inferiority to pimecrolimus). The mean repigmentation rate was 65% in the mometasone group and 42% in the pimecrolimus group at the end of therapy. Atrophy, telangiectasia and erythema were observed in two patients (10%) in the mometasone cream group and a burning sensation and pruritus were observed in two patients (10%) in the pimecrolimus cream group; drop-out was not related to the observed adverse effects.

CONCLUSION: Mometasone cream was found to be effective in the treatment of vitiligo on any part of the body. Pimecrolimus was not effective on the body except for the face in childhood localized vitiligo.