For the management of elderly people with moderate-to-severe psoriasis, dimethylfumarate seems to be an effective agent with good tolerability.

A study was carried out to investigate dimethylfumarate use for the management of elderly people suffering from psoriasis.

This retrospective multicentric study incorporated 81 elderly (>65 years) psoriatic patients (48 males and 33 females) treated with dimethylfumarate up to 24 weeks. With the aid of Psoriasis Area and Severity Index (PASI) score, dimethylfumarate's efficacy was assessed up to 24 weeks. Drug maintenance and safety were also examined.

The PASI score at week 0 ranged from 3,7-24 (mean ± standard deviation, 9,8 ± 4,1), that altered after dimethylfumarate administration at week 16 and 24, as illustrated in Table 1:

Among 81 participants, 59 (72,8%) adverse events were witnessed during the observation period. Flushes (n = 10, 12,3%) and gastrointestinal complaints (n = 24, 29,6%) were the most commonly noted adverse events. Lymphocytopenia (n = 10, 12,35%) was oftenly noted.

Dimethylfumarate may be a first-line systemic therapy choice for managing elderly psoriasis since it led to improvement of disease severity in the majority of the patients. However, the long-term safety data should be closely monitored, in particular, lymphocytopenia.