Original articleSystemic therapy for primary hyperhidrosis: A retrospective study of 59 patients treated with glycopyrrolate or clonidine
Section snippets
Methods
Institutional review board approval was obtained from the university’s human subjects committee to conduct a retrospective chart review. Charts were systematically reviewed for all dermatologic visits from 1993 to 2005 for all patients encountered for the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision code corresponding to primary HH. Clinical data were reviewed to ensure that all patients met diagnostic criteria for primary HH,7 including at least 4 of the following 7 features:
Results
The retrospective chart review identified a total of 71 patients who were treated with oral medications for a diagnosis of primary HH. Of these 12 (17%) were lost to follow-up and were excluded from further analysis. The remaining 59 patients were included in the analysis, and had at least 2 months of follow-up data. Demographic and clinical characteristics are shown (Table I). The mean age was 28.9 years, with a female:male ratio of 1.7:1. The palms, soles, and/or axillae were primarily
Discussion
Only limited data are available regarding use of oral medications in the management of HH. The HH disease severity scale defines moderate HH as sweating that is tolerable but sometimes interferes with daily activities, and severe HH as sweating that is barely tolerable to intolerable, that frequently to always interferes with daily activities.8 A 2007 practice guideline correctly states that “compelling evidence is lacking for the safety and efficacy of systemic anticholinergic agents” for the
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Funding sources: None.
Conflicts of interest: None declared.