Rosacea lessens patients’ quality of life not only by visible symptoms like erythema, papules, and pustules but also by invisible symptoms like stinging, burning and dryness. Ivermectin 1% cream has recently been introduced as an efficient therapy for papules and pustules in rosacea patients. We aim to investigate the potential of ivermectin 1% cream to improve rosacea-associated erythema and invisible symptoms by combining established questionnaires with the novel photography and analysis tool Scarletred® Vision. We performed an open monocentric pilot study including 25 Caucasian patients presenting with moderate to severe rosacea with erythema, less than 10 papules and/or pustules, and ≥15 demodex mites/cm2. Patients applied 1 g of ivermectin 1% cream (Soolantra®) once a day for ≥ 16 weeks. Skin symptoms were recorded at baseline, week 8 and ≥ week 16. Grade of erythema was determined by clinician erythema assessment (CEA) and patient self-assessment (PSA). Severity of invisible skin symptoms (stinging and/or burning, dryness, itching) were assessed by questionnaire. Erythema and skin texture were additionally quantified using Scarletred® Vision. CEA and PSA were reduced significantly (both: p<0.0001; at ≥ week 16) by ivermectin 1% cream as well as invisible skin symptoms of rosacea (stinging and/or burning, dryness: p<0.0001; itching p<0-001; at ≥ 16 weeks). Analysis with Scarletred® Vision confirmed CEA and PSA results for improvement of erythema (p<0.0001; at ≥ 16 weeks) and skin roughness (p<0.001; at ≥ 16 weeks). Ivermectin 1% cream is efficient in treating not only rosacea-associated papules and pustules but also erythema and invisible skin symptoms. Scarletred® Vision is a useful tool to complement classical questionnaires such as CEA and PSA to objectively analyse treatment success in rosacea management.

ESDR158 - Novel effects of ivermectin in rosacea: reduction of erythema, flushing, skin texture, and invisible symptoms

The scientific meeting of the European Society for Dermatological Research (ESDR) is held yearly, usually in September. With an international attendance of more than 1000 skin scientists from around the globe, the four-day event includes short oral presentations from peer-reviewed abstracts, keynote lectures from international experts, sponsored symposia, satellite programs, educational events as well as an important focus on posters, networking and building collaborations amongst scientists. For more information about this year’s meeting visit our website.