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Objective: To determine whether Lyme borreliosis persisted or had recurred in patients treated for erythema chronicum migrans and acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans. Design: Retrospective follow-up study. Mean time between treatment and follow-up study was 8.8 years (SD, 66.6 years). Setting: Department of dermatology. Patients: Patients (N=52) treated from July 1964 to October 1992 for erythema chronicum migrans (ECM; n=44) or acrodermatitis chronica atrophicans (ACA; n=8). Fifty-two of the 56 successfully contacted and registered patients agreed to participate, for a response rate of 93%. Main Outcome Measures: Signs and symptoms of Lyme borreliosis; serum antibodies toBorrelia burgdorferi. Results: The interval from the time of diagnosis to study entry was 0.8 to 28.7 years (mean, 8.2 years). No symptoms or signs of active Lyme borreliosis were observed in the 52 patients. Antibodies toB burgdorferiwere found in the ECM group in 1 of the 23 patients who received a recommended treatment and 2 of the 21 patients who received other treatments; antibodies were found in the ACA group in all 5 adequately treated patients who received a recommended treatment and in 1 of the 3 patients who received other treatments. Conclusions: There was no association between serologic results and type of treatment or between serologic results and complaints or symptoms at the time of the study in either of the patient groups. The prognosis in most patients with Lyme borreliosis is excellent. Arch Dermatol. 1997;133:33-37

Background: None of the commonly used drugs for the treatment of scleroderma appears to significantly influence the fibrotic stage of this disorder. Recently, a beneficial effect of the treatment with oral calcitriol (1,25 dihydroxyvitamin D3) in 10 patients with systemic sclerosis and four patients with morphea was described. This fact could be ascribed to the immunoregulatory effects of calcitriol observed in vitro and to inhibition of fibroblast growth. We treated three patients with extensive morphea with remarkable results. Observation: Three patients with generalized morphea were treated with calcitriol in an oral daily dose of 0.50 to 0.75 μg. After 3 to 7 months of treatment, the mobility of the joints improved and the skin extensibility increased. No adverse effects were observed. The improvement persisted after discontinuation of therapy during a follow-up period of 1 to 2 years. Conclusion: Calcitriol showed a beneficial effect in generalized morphea during an open study. Double-blind, placebo-controlled trials are needed to assess its therapeutic value. (Arch Dermatol. 1994;130:1290-1293)