In recent years the effective treatment of discoid lupus erythematosus has been greatly advanced by the introduction of antimalarial drugs. While this as well as former methods of treatment remain on a purely empirical basis, awaiting fuller understanding of the pathogenesis of lupus erythematosus, it is now evident that quinacrine (Atabrine) and chloroquine (Aralen) afford suppression or control of the disease more consistently than any of the older therapeutic agents. The interesting history of the employment of antimalarials for lupus erythematosus has been recounted in several recent contributions.* Chloroquine has found acceptance as being superior to quinacrine in avoiding the undesirable skin discoloration and hematologic risks of the latter. Attention now is centered upon the investigation of other antimalarial drugs in the effort to find those which are most beneficial and at the same time least toxic.
The present report includes observations on the use of quinacrine, chloroquine,