Tretinoin Treatment of Fox-Fordyce Disease

The document discussed the potential use of topical tretinoin for treating Fox-Fordyce disease (FFD), a condition characterized by itchy follicular papules in areas with many apocrine glands, such as the axillae and pubic area. The pathogenesis of FFD involved the formation of a keratin plug in the hair follicle, leading to obstruction and subsequent inflammation, which caused itching. Given the histologic similarities between FFD, acne vulgaris, and keratosis pilaris, which all showed improvement with tretinoin, the author suggested that tretinoin might also be effective for FFD.