Efficacy and safety of topical mometasone furoate 0.01% vs. tacrolimus 0.03% and mometasone furoate 0.01% in vitiligo

Objectives to compare the efficacy and safety of topical mometasone furoate 0.01% vs. tacrolimus 0.03% and mometasone furoate 0.01% in vitiligo. patients and methods this interventional, quasi-experimental study was conducted at department of dermatology, lady reading hospital, peshawar, from january, 2008 to august, 2008. patients were selected by non-probability purposive sampling method after obtaining an informed consent. sixty patients of vitiligo (26 male and 34 female), aged older than five years and involving less than 30% of body surface area were enrolled. all the patients were randomly divided into two equal groups using random number table. group i patients were treated with twice daily application of topical mometasone furoate 0.01%, whereas those of group ii were advised to apply mometasone plus tacrolimus ointment on the lesions twice daily. the patients were followed up weekly for first month and later on fortnightly for five months to monitor the improvement and adverse effects. results tacrolimus plus mometasone was effective (grade 4-5) in 70% of patients whereas topical mometasone alone was effective (grade 4-5) in none of the patients. the results of combination therapy were much better than mometasone alone. the combination therapy was also more effective in type ii and type „iiiskin than type iv skin. no side effects were observed in two groups. conclusion we recommend that topical mometasone has no role in the treatment of vitiligo in type iv skin but when combined with tacrolimus may potentiate its efficacy.