Efficacy of Secukinumab in Management of Erythrodermic Psoriasis: A Study in Treatment-naïve Cases

Background: Erythrodermic psoriasis is a dermatological emergency with a prevalence of ~2.5% among patients of psoriasis. Systemic complications ensue without the timely management of this life-threatening skin disorder involving more than 90% body surface area. Conventionally, systemic immunosuppressives such as cyclosporine are used for tiding this crisis often necessitating long duration of treatment and recurrence on tapering the dosage. Materials and Methods: In this retrospective study conducted at the dermatology department of this tertiary care center, we enrolled 10 erythroderma cases treated with secukinumab monotherapy and followed up from June 2021 to June 2024. Results: Ten patients were managed during the study period, and a successful outcome was noted in all the patients. The Psoriasis Area and Severity Index response rate improved by at least 50% from baseline at week 4 and 75% at week 6 and improved to 90% at week 8 in all patients. None of the patients had a recurrence of erythroderma till 12 months of follow-up. Conclusion: The study concluded that secukinumab is an excellent drug in biologically treatment-naïve erythroderma cases with the quickest resolution of symptoms and almost no chances of recurrence.