Abstract:
Trichostasis spinulosa (TS) is hyperkeratotic follicular papules which is resulting from follicular retention of vellus hairs. It can occur after puberty and also in elderly patients. TS is commonly found on the nose and cheeks. There are many modalities have been used to treat TS such as topical retinoids, keratolytic drugs, adhesive strips, IPL and laser. Although gold standard treatment has not yet been available, the topical retinoids is the one that found effective to treat TS with properties of keratolytic, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammation.
This study aimed to compare the efficacy between 2 commercial preparations of topical 0.025% tretinoin and topical 0.05% tretinoin on the treatment of TS. Randomized, double-blind, split-face clinical trial study was applied. Forty-two volunteers who had TS and met the inclusion criteria were enrolled in the study and randomly assigned topical 0.025% tretinoin and topical 0.05% tretinoin to each alae nasi. In order to evaluate the efficacy at different time-points, photographs were taken by a digital microscope at baseline (week 0), 4th, 8th and 12th week, an independent physician counted the lesion of TS from the digital microscope photographs. Paired t-test or Wilcoxon sign rank test and Repeated Measure ANOVA were applied to find statistically different.
Among forty-two volunteers, thirty-eight subjects completed the study. The subjects were female (27/38, 71.1%) and male (11/38, 28.9%). The average participant age was 29.26 ± 6.67 years old. The results of lesion counts of TS at 4th, 8th and 12th week were significantly reduced in both topical 0.025% tretinoin and topical 0.05% tretinoin treatments. There were no statistically significant in the efficacy of treating TS between the topical 0.025% tretinoin and topical 0.05%tretinoin. However, at 12th week, recurrent was found significantly prevented in topical 0.05% tretinoin treatment. Severe complications were not observed in both treatments, only minimal adverse effects such as itching, redness, dry and scale. In conclusion, Both topical 0.025% tretinoin and topical 0.05% tretinoin could be suggested for the treatment of TS effectively and safely.