Management of Darier disease: A review of the literature and update

Abstract

Darier disease (DD) is a rare type of inherited keratinizing disorder with no definitive therapeutic approach. The objective of this study is to provide a detailed literature review of all the available treatment modalities of Darier disease, including those that are both surgical and non surgical, to compare their efficacies and to propose a novel therapeutic approach. A complete search of the literature for all articles describing the different treatments of Darier disease, with no restrictions on patients' ages, gender or nationalities, was performed with the use of PubMed. A total of 68 articles were included in the study: 3 prospective studies, 44 case reports/case series and 21 letters/correspondences/clinical images. The treatments described were topical, oral or physical. Retinoids (isotretinoin, tazarotene and adapalene) and fluorouracil were the two most effective topical treatments. Oral retinoids were the most effective oral therapy and were prescribed in the cases of generalized Darier disease. For localized and resistant skin lesions, physical therapies including surgical excision, dermabrasion and CO2 laser ablation were the first line choices. Limitations of this article include the inability to verify the accuracy of the published data, the relatively small sample size, the absence of randomized controlled clinical trials and possible unidentified confounding factors in various studies. In every therapeutic approach to Darier disease, consideration of patient comorbidities, disease distribution, severity and treatment accessibility is essential. Large and randomized clinical trials are necessary for the comparison of the efficacy and the safety of all the treatments of Darier disease and settling a consensus for management.