What Researchers Did
Researchers presented a case report of a young patient with recalcitrant ulcerative necrobiosis lipoidica diabeticorum (NLD) successfully treated with infliximab, followed by a review of the literature on TNFα blockade in NLD.
What They Found
A 17-year-old woman with type 1 diabetes and a severely ulcerated NLD lesion, unresponsive to other treatments, achieved complete resolution of ulceration after 4 monthly sessions of 5mg/kg intravenous infliximab. A review of the literature also indicated mostly favorable results for three out of five anti-TNFα agents tested for NLD.
What This Means for Canadian Patients
Canadian patients with severe, ulcerating necrobiosis lipoidica diabeticorum that has not responded to conventional therapies may benefit from treatment with anti-TNFα agents like infliximab. This approach could offer a new therapeutic avenue for a condition that is notoriously difficult to manage.
Canadian Relevance
This study has no direct Canadian connection.
Study Limitations
As a case report, the findings are based on a single patient and may not be generalizable to the broader population of patients with necrobiosis lipoidica diabeticorum.