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Background: Mometasone furoate [9a, 21-dichloro-llb, 17dihydroxy-16a-methyl-pregna-14-dione-3, 20-dione-17-(2furoate)] is a synthetic, 17-heterocyclic corticosteroid which has been shown to be highly effective as an anti-inflammatory agent which is approximately half as potent is suppressing hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis function as betamethasone valerate., Method: The present open, randomised, third party blinded, left-right sided study was designed to compare the therapeutic efficacy of mometasone furoate cream 0.1% with clobetasol propionate cream 0.05% applied twice daily in chronic eczema following a 3-week course of therapy., Patients/results: Sixty consecutive patients with moderate to severe bilateral chronic eczema on the limbs were recruited into the study. The mean scores of various signs/symptoms including erythema, induration, crusting, scaling, excoriation and pruritus before and after 3 weeks treatment with mometasone furoate (MF) and clobetasol propionate (CP) cream, were compared. The baseline scores for MF and CP treated sites were almost identical. There was significant decrease in the mean scores of all signs/symptoms after 3 weeks treatment with MF and CP. There was also a significant difference in the mean scores between MF and CP treated sites after 3 weeks of treatment. The mean scores were significantly lower for CP treated sites than MF treated sites. More CP treated sites achieved "cleared" or "marked improvement" response than MF treated sites. There were more "excellent" or "good" grades on CP treated sites than MF treated sites at the end of 3 weeks of treatment. None of the patients showed any side-effects after 4 weeks of treatment., Conclusion: Overall, 53% of patients considered the MF treated sites to be good or excellent vs 88% for CP treated sites.

We describe a 51-year-old Chinese woman with a 2-year history of swelling of the right forearm and hand, which gradually became hyperpigmented and indurated. This had the typical features of myxedema. The diagnosis was confirmed on histology. She had a past history of thyrotoxicosis and rheumatoid arthritis for which she had undergone treatment. This case is reported as an unusual location of localised myxedema with a literature review and comment on the treatment options. In Singapore only rare similar cases have been reported in the past.