Olanzapine may be an effective adjunctive therapy in the management of acne excoriée: a case report.

BACKGROUND: The self-inflicted dermatoses such as acne excorieé and neurotic excoriations are often chronic, recurring, and resistant to standard dermatologic therapies.

OBJECTIVE: We present a 28-year-old woman with longstanding acne excorieé, whose acne started at age 14 years and was followed by acne excorieé at age 16 years. The patient reported that her acne and self-excoriative behavior were exacerbated by psychological stress. The previously treatment-resistant acne excorieé responded favorably to treatment with the atypical antipsychotic agent olanzapine.

METHODS: The patient was started on olanzapine 2.5 mg at bedtime.

RESULTS: After 4 weeks of therapy with olanzapine she reported a significant decline in her self-excoriative behavior which was associated with an improvement in her acne excorieé. The patient used the olanzapine 2.5 mg for 6 months, during which time she also entered psychotherapy in order to deal with some psychosocial stressors that were exacerbating her self-excoriative behavior. The patient has not experienced a recurrence in her self-excoriative behavior or acne excorieé for 4 months after discontinuing the olanzapine.

CONCLUSION: Olanzapine may prove to be a useful adjunctive therapy in some self-induced dermatoses including acne excorieé.