Topical 0.05% Clobetasol Propianate in Vaseline Versus UVA-1 Phototherapy in Vulvar Lichen Sclerosus

• Clinical improvement during UVA1/cortisone treatment [ Time Frame: 6 months follow-up ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  Clinical improvement during UVA1/cortisone treatment using an investigator score measuring hypopigmentation, sclerosis, atrophy, hyperkeratosis, erosions, edema, erythema in a numerical scale as to be rated followed: 0 = absent, 1 = mild, 2 = moderate, 3 = severe. The total score is then calculated respectively from the sum of individual scores (max. 21 points).
  
  

• subjective patient score [ Time Frame: until 6 months follow-up ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  a subjective patient-score to measure burning, pain and itch using a visual analogue scale with score from 0 (absent) to 10 (most severe imaginable)
  
  
• Influence on Quality of Life [ Time Frame: until 6 months follow-up ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  Measuring the influence of the disease on the Quality of Life using a qualified Questionnaire on Quality of Life in Dermatology: Skindex-29
  
  
• Colorimetry [ Time Frame: baseline and after 3 months of treatment ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  Objective measurement of colour to determine erythema, severity of white patches.
  
  
• Ultrasound to determine the severity of the sclerosis [ Time Frame: baseline and after 3 months of treatment ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  A 22MHz Ultrasound of the involved area is performed at the baseline and after 3 months of therapy to determine the severity of the sclerosis
  
  
• Immunological, RT-PCR and histological parameters in skin biopsies [ Time Frame: baseline and after 3 months of treatment ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
  Measuring several immunohistochemical, RT-PCR and serological parameters in skin and blood, respectively.
  
  

Genital lichen sclerosus is a rare chronic inflammatory connective tissue disease. The association with other autoimmune diseases and the detection of autoantibodies against ECM-1 point to an autoimmune genesis. Genital lichen sclerosus typically affects women around and after the menopause. Common sites of affection are the vulva (clitoris and labia majora) and the anus in women, the prepuce and the glans penis in men. Skin lesions include ivory-white, atrophic, porcelain-like plaques with a tendency to atrophy and fissures in the advanced stages.

First-line therapy for genital lichen sclerosus in the active, inflammatory phase is the use of topical glucocorticoids. Alternatively, topically applied hormone-containing emollients and topical calcineurin inhibitors are widely used. However, the use of topical corticosteroids is because of the associated long-term side effects (atrophy, striae) limited.

In the treatment of localized scleroderma (morphea), a similar sclerosing disease, the use of ultraviolet radiation (UVA1) has proved highly effective. After a pilot study, the high-dose UVA1 phototherapy (120 J / cm ²) was significantly more effective was a low-dose UVA1 (20 J / cm ²), however no difference could be found in subsequent studies. Meanwhile, the medium-dose UVA1 phototherapy in circumscribed scleroderma has been determined as the most effective therapy regime and is included in the german dermatological guidelines (see also AWMF guideline for diagnosis and therapy of circumscribed scleroderma at: http://www.uni-duesseldorf.de/awmf/ll/013- 066.htm).