Betamethasone Oral Mini-Pulse Therapy in the Treatment of Lichen Planus

Background: lichen planus is a common dermatological condition. many treatment options have been discussed in literature, each with its own risk profile. betamethasone pulse therapy is one of the effective therapies mentioned.the objective of this study was to find out whether oral betamethasone mini pulse therapy is effective in lichen planus. methods: a total of 40 patients were enrolled in the study. twenty patients received 5mg of oral betamethasone daily for two consecutive days in a week for 6 weeks along with loratadine and the other twenty patients received a loratadine tablet daily for the same period. results: the flattening of the existing lesions, appearance of the new lesions and persistence of itching were considered as the parameters of clinical evaluation. it was clearly observable that the number of lichen planus lesions were drastically decreasing in group a and only slightly increasing in group b during the follow-ups. conclusion: betamethasone oral mini-pulse therapy was found to be more effective than loratadine in the treatment of lichen planus. (iran j dermatol 2008;11:99-102)