ACNE VULGARIS is the commonest skin condition which a dermatologist is called upon to treat. It would be a conservative estimate to state that one of us (S. M. P.) has treated more than 3,000 cases during his dermatologic life-time. With this experience in mind, it is justifiable to draw some general conclusions about therapy in this skin disease.
It is difficult to evaluate any therapeutic approach to acne vulgaris unless something is known of the course of the condition in any individual case, and unless the therapy in question is followed long enough to assay its results properly. We agree that the method of paired comparisons would be ideal, but obviously such a procedure is not practical in acne where a topical remedy is to be used at home by the patients for a period of months. A completely controlled study does not seem feasible.
The cases to be reported here were nearly all seen in