Efficacy and Safety of Calcipotriol/Betamethasone Dipropionate Ointment for the Treatment of Trachyonychia: An Open-Label Study

BACKGROUND: Despite efforts to treat trachyonychia, there is no promising treatment modality. OBJECTIVE: This study evaluated the efficacy and safety of calcipotriol plus betamethasone dipropionate ointment on trachyonychia. METHODS: A total of 39 patients with 432 nails affected by trachyonychia were enrolled. All patients applied calcipotriol/betamethasone ointment once daily without occlusion for 6 months. Outcome measures were assessed by physician's global assessment (degree of roughness: 0, clear; 1, mild; 2, moderate; 3, marked; 4, severe) at all time points. RESULTS: After 6 months of therapy, 98.6% (426/432) of nails showed significant clinical improvement; 4.2% were completely free from nail lesions. The mean physician global assessment score decreased significantly from 3.5 to 1.7 points (p< 0.05). No serious side effects were reported, except mild pruritus and erythema in 2 patients. CONCLUSION: This is the first study to prospectively evaluate the efficacy and safety of calcipotriol/betamethasone ointment for the treatment of trachyonychia. The results indicate topical calcipotriol/betamethasone is an effective and safe treatment for symptom improvement of trachyonychia.