Maintenance therapy for acne vulgaris: efficacy of a 12-month treatment with adapalene-benzoyl peroxide after oral isotretinoin and a review of the literature.

Background: a correct therapeutic management of acne should include a maintenance therapy with topical retinoids to prevent recurrences after discontinuing a successful treatment. Objective: to investigate the efficacy of a 12-month maintenance treatment with adapalene 0.1% and benzoyl peroxide (BPO) 2.5% gel fixed-combination to control acne relapse after a treatment with oral isotretinoin (O.I.). Methods: the study consisted of 2 phases: active treatment phase (AP) and maintenance phase (MP). In the AP, 70 consecutive patients with moderate to severe acne were treated with O.I. until acne remission. Then, patients entered the MP and were treated with adapalene-BPO fixed-combination once-daily for 12 months. The primary efficacy parameter was the relapse rate during MP. Results: sixty-eight patients completed the study. Relapse appeared in 2 patients (2.94%). Conclusions: comparing our findings with published data, the association of topical retinoid and benzoyl peroxide seems to provide favourable evidence of the combination therapy as maintenance.