Is Topical Tacrolimus Really an Effective Therapy for Hailey-Hailey Disease?

A Narrative Review on the Usage of Surgical Skin Grafting, Acitretin, and Tacrolimus in the Treatment of Hailey-Hailey Disease

“…After four months, there was only a 2 cm patch of erythema without erosions on the perineum [ 15 ]. However, in one case study, a patient was given 0.1% tacrolimus twice a day which led the patient to feel burning sensations, leading to progressive worsening of the lesions [ 14 ]. Another patient was given tacrolimus twice a day and experienced significant and fast improvement of skin lesions without itching or burning sensations [ 30 ].…”

“…The dosage of topical treatments is very important for skincare. The usual dosage for tacrolimus is usually 0.1% applied to the affected area twice a day [14][15][16][17]. There is a fine balance between too little tacrolimus and too much tacrolimus.…”

Management of familial benign chronic pemphigus

“…There are at least two case reports of poor effect with topical tacrolimus treatment. Laffitte and Panizzon 19 recommended a cautious approach to tacrolimus for they report a case with progressively worsened lesions and had to be discontinued after 12 days. These lesions were Staphylococcus aureus positive and resolved with oral dicloxacillin and topical calcipotriol cream.…”

Hailey-Hailey disease: A case treated with topical tacrolimus

“…[14] There is only single report of local irritation with topical tacrolimus in a patient with Hailey-Hailey disease leading to complete failure of therapy. [5] This side effect can be easily overcome by decreasing the concentration of the drug. No such side effect was noticed in our case.…”