ABSTRACT

Acne rosacea is a difficult to treat disease and current treatments remain unsatisfactory. Our aim was to assess and present the photographic evaluation of the effectiveness and tolerability of azelaic acid 15 % gel for the treatment of acne rosacea.

Healthy male and female adult outpatients (>18 years of age) with mild to moderate acne rosacea. All patients were instructed to apply azelaic acid 15% gel to entire affected area twice daily for 4 weeks. Primary efficacy endpoints in the study included changes from baseline to the last visit (4th week) in the severity of lesions on a 4-point scale. Both patients and investigators rated the overall improvement at the end of the study.

All 31 patients completed the study. The investigator assessment of rosacea revealed that azelaic acid 15% gel resulted in a statistically significant decrease in facial erythema (p=0.001) while no statistically significant change was observed with regard to changes in inflammatory lesions and telangiectasia (p>0.05). Most of the patients (58%) rated the outcome of the treatment as “moderately” to “very satisfactory”. With regard to investigators’ evaluation scores, 29% (n=9) of patients showed marked improvement or clearance.

Azelaic acid 15% gel is an effective and safe treatment for mild to moderate acne rosacea when used twice daily in combination with sunscreens.