The Efficacy of Intralesional Meglumine Antimoniate (Glucantime) versus a Combination of Topical Trichloroacetic Acid 50% and Local Heat Therapy by Non-Ablative Radiofrequency on Cutaneous Leishmaniasis Lesions.

Background: Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is an endemic disease in Iran. Pentavalent antimonial drugs have been the first line of therapy in CL for many years. However, the cure rate of these agents is still not favorable. This study was carried out to compare the efficacy of intralesional glucantime and topical trichloroacetic acid 50% in combination with non-ablative radiofrequency heat therapy on cutaneous leishmaniasis. Methods: A total of 30 patients with 38 lesions were treated with intralesional injection of meglumine antimoniate (Glucantime) (Sanofi-Aventis, France) as Group 1. An equal number of 38 lesions in the remaining 30 patients were treated with the combination of non-ablative radiofrequency and topical trichloroacetic acid 50% as Group 2. Complete cure rate besides changes in lesion size and size of scars were assessed and compared between the two groups. Data was then analyzed by SPSS. Findings: Complete cure at after 4 months of treatment was significantly more in Group 1 than the other group (P = 0.01). However, the complete cure rate at the 6th month was not significantly different between the two groups (P = 0.06). Conclusion: This study showed that intralesional glucantime has significantly higher cure rate of cutaneous leishmaniasis in shorter time than trichloroacetic acid 50% in combination with non-ablative radiofrequency. Moreover, it could significantly induce efficient size reduction of more than 50% in most of lesions. The analyses revealed that intralesional glucantime still has the superiority to be the first line of therapy in cutaneous leishmaniasis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]