Successful treatment of bullous lichen planus with acitretin monotherapy. Review of treatment options for bullous lichen planus and case report.

BACKGROUND

Bullous lichen planus (BLP) is a rare variant of lichen planus, characterized by the development of vesicular and bullous lesions, of skin, nails, hair and/or mucosa.

MAIN OBSERVATIONS: We present a case of 63-year-old woman with BLP, unresponsive to previous therapies with topical corticosteroids, topical calcipotriol, antihistamines and oral cyclosporine (4 mg/kg/day for 4 months). She was already receiving treatment for arterial hypertension, hyperlipidemia, atrial fibrillation and uncontrolled diabetes mellitus. Acitretin was administered for 5 months with complete remission of BLP lesions and no major side effects.

CONCLUSIONS

This is probably the first reported case of BLP treated with acitretin monotherapy. In this case acitretin was an efficacious and well-tolerated therapeutic option for BLP.