Drug survival of cyclosporine in the treatment of hand eczema: a multicentre, daily use study

Background Hand eczema is a common condition; it is often chronic and can be difficult to treat. Cyclosporine is used off-label to treat severe hand eczema; however, the evidence for this treatment is scarce.

Objective To examine the drug survival of cyclosporine in a daily practice cohort of patients with chronic hand eczema.

Methods This retrospective daily use study included hand eczema patients who were treated with cyclosporine between 01-06-1999 and 01-06-2014 in two Dutch university hospitals. Patient and treatment characteristics were retrospectively collected from medical charts. First treatment episodes were analysed by means of Kaplan-Meier drug survival curves. Possible determinants of drug survival were analysed by Cox regression models. Treatment effectiveness was analysed with a retrospective physician's global assessment.

Results A total of 102 patients were treated with cyclosporine. The median drug survival rate was 0.86 years (10.3 months). The overall drug survival rate after 6 months, 1, 2 and 3 years were 61.7%, 45.2%, 18.6% and 13.9% respectively. Main reasons for discontinuation were adverse events, especially early in treatment, and ineffectiveness. After 3 months, a good response to treatment was recorded in 62.9% of the patients.

Conclusion Cyclosporine had a median drug survival of 10.3 months. Especially patients with recurrent vesicular hand eczema showed a good treatment response.