Tretinoin emollient cream for photodamaged skin: results of 48-week, multicenter, double-blind studies.

Abstract

The ability of topical tretinoin to improve certain signs of skin photodamage has been shown previously. Our purpose was to assess the effectiveness of tretinoin emollient cream in maintaining or further improving photodamaged skin during extended use. Photodamaged subjects who completed 24 weeks of once-daily use of tretinoin emollient cream 0.05% (n = 149) or 0.01% (n = 149) continued to use the same strength formulation in a 24-week double-blind extension. Maintenance of improvement or continued reduction in signs of photodamage was noted in both investigators' and subjects' evaluations of the 0.05% and 0.01% preparations; these results were confirmed by skin replica analyses. Cutaneous side effects were less common during the extension study than during the first 24 weeks of therapy. Both strengths of tretinoin emollient cream (0.05% and 0.01%) appeared safe and effective in the treatment of photodamaged skin during a 48-week treatment period.