THERAPEUTIC HOTLINE: Treatment of pityriasis rubra pilaris with etanercept

Pityriasis rubra pilaris (PRP) or Devergie's disease is a chronic and rare papulosquamous disorder of unknown etiology characterized by reddish orange scaly plaques, palmoplantar keratoderma, and keratotic follicular papules. The present authors report a case of a 30-year-old woman with clinical and histologic signs of PRP (type I adult onset, Griffith's classification). After a few unsuccessful treatments, the present authors chose to start etanercept. Total clearing of the lesions was achieved 5 months after starting the drug. Etanercept is a TNF-alpha inhibitor, and today it is largely used in the treatment of several dermatological diseases through blockage of the inflammatory cytokine. The true mechanism of action in PRP remains to be explained; however, the favorable results in our case raise new questions about TNF-alpha's role in PRP and suggest a therapeutic alternative for resistant cases to classic treatments. To date, there are only three case reports of PRP treated with etanercept in the literature.