The Efficacy of Intralesional Pentoxifylline Injection Versus the Standard Intralesional Corticosteroid Injection in the Treatment of Alopecia Areata

    June 2024 in “ QJM ”
    Nermeen Samy Abdel Fattah, Tarek Nabil Abdallah, Samah Ibrahim, Samar Elaraby Hamdy Mohammed
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    Studysummary This study found that combining intralesional PTX and corticosteroids may enhance treatment outcomes for alopecia areata, with PTX showing better long-term effects compared to corticosteroids alone. Our plain-language summary of this paper — not a Tressless recommendation.
    The study compared the efficacy of intralesional pentoxifylline (PTX) injections to standard intralesional corticosteroid (ILCS) injections in treating alopecia areata (AA) in 30 Egyptian patients. Both treatments showed significant improvements in hair density, total hair count, terminal hair count, and the percentage of terminal hair. While corticosteroids provided a rapid response, PTX effects were delayed but progressively increased with consecutive sessions. The combination of PTX and corticosteroids was found to be beneficial, as the rapid response from corticosteroids could be maintained and enhanced by adding PTX. Overall, PTX showed a slightly better response compared to ILCS alone.
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