[Treatment of pityriasis alba with a combination of coal tar, diiodohydroxyquinolin and hydrocortisone].

Pityriasis Alba, a dermatosis whose significance is basically cosmetic, is extremely common and so benign that the majority of patients-dark skinned children and young people do not consult a physician. Nevertheless due to its high incidence and chronicity a large number of patients eventually seek relief. The various treatments currently employed based on a mistaken concept of its etiology are ineffective, though the dermatosis disappears spontaneously after some time. The use of cream containing 2% coal tar., 1% diiodohydroxyquinolin and 0.5% hydrocortisone applied 3 times a day for one month on 29 patients in a double blind trial compared with on the contralateral region, proved to have acceptable results, with a highly significant difference compared with the placebo (P less than 0,0005).