Clofazimine in the treatment of annular lupus erythematosus

To the Editor.— In the AprilArchives(1980;116:450-453), Maciejewski reported a case of annular erythema as an unusual variant of chronic lupus erythematosus (LE). He found that the disease was strikingly resistant to therapy, since neither 50 mg/day of prednisolone nor 250 mg/day of chloroquine phosphate succeeded in clearing the eruption. Only high doses of azathioprine and prednisolone did so. Recently, we had the opportunity to use clofazimine successfully in two cases of annular LE. Report of Cases.—Case 1.— A 52-year-old woman had widespread, red, scaly, annular lesions that tended to coalesce, producing polycyclic gyrate configurations on the exposed aspects of the body. Light microscopy findings were consistent with the diagnosis of LE, and direct immunofluorescence microscopy of the lesions indicated linear deposits of IgG, IgM, and C3 at the dermoepidermal junction. The antinuclear antibody test result was positive, with a homogeneous pattern at 1:80 dilution. An LE