SAN FRANCISCO — Azithromycin had no influence on the clinical course of pityriasis rosea, according to a small randomized controlled trial presented at the annual meeting of the Pediatric Academic Societies.
The etiologic agent for pityriasis rosea, an acute inflammatory skin disease common in children and adolescents, is unknown. But a study published in 2000 reported complete resolution of symptoms in 73% of patients treated with erythromycin (J. Am. Acad. Dermatol. 2000;42:241–4).
Dr. Ahdi Amer and Dr. Howard Fischer, both of the Wayne State University, Detroit, treated 49 children an average of 1.5 weeks after a diagnosis of pityriasis rosea. The children, aged 2–18, were randomly assigned to receive a 5-day course of azithromycin or placebo, they said in a poster presentation at the meeting, sponsored by the American Pediatric Society, the Society for Pediatric Research, the Ambulatory Pediatric Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics.
A total of 15 patients in the azithromycin group (60%) and 10 patients in the placebo group (42%) had complete resolution of symptoms within 2 weeks. Seven patients in each group had partial resolution. There were three treatment failures in the azithromycin group and seven in the placebo group. None of these differences between groups was statistically significant. Complete resolution was defined by previous lesions that were neither scaly nor raised, and the appearance of no new lesions. In patients who experienced a decrease in lesion number, scaliness, or thickness were considered to have a partial resolution.
There were no statistically significant differences in the proportion of patients with residual hyperpigmentation or hypopigmentation. Two patients in the treatment group reported stomachache and another two reported diarrhea while receiving azithromycin.