Trends in the Presence or Absence of Transaminitis and/or Leukopenia in Pediatric Patients Treated with Methotrexate for Inflammatory Skin Disease

The document reports on a retrospective chart review that aimed to define the incidence of laboratory abnormalities, such as anemia, leukopenia, and transaminitis, among pediatric dermatology patients taking methotrexate (MTX) for inflammatory skin diseases. The study included 59 subjects, with a nearly even distribution between males (47%) and females (53%), and a diverse age range. The results showed that 71% of patients experienced a laboratory abnormality, but no dose changes were made for anemia. Transaminitis was observed in 46% of patients, with 59% of these patients showing normalization of liver enzymes without a change in MTX dose, while 41% had normalization after dose reduction or discontinuation. The study concluded that the degree of laboratory abnormality was directly associated with the likelihood of decreasing or discontinuing the drug, and for transaminitis, a less than or equal to 2 times increase over the upper limit of normal did not impact the normalization of laboratory values after dose reduction or cessation.