THE WELL-DOCUMENTED reports of the effect of corticotropin (ACTH) in reducing fibroplasia stimulated our study of this agent in the treatment of keloids.1 Two methods were used: First, the keloids were excised and the patient was treated with corticotropin in the postoperative period. Second, corticotropin was combined with hyaluronidase and injected directly into the keloid.
1. SURGERY AND POSTOPERATIVE ADMINISTRATION OF CORTICOTROPIN
The first patient was a child 2 years old who had a large confluent keloid which fused the first, second, and third toes of the right foot into one mass of reddened, elevated scar. This keloid, which developed after surgical treatment for syndactylism at another hospital, completely obliterated the interdigital spaces. That this lesion was a true keloid rather than a hypertrophic scar was evidenced by its growth into cutaneous areas beyond the site of original surgical trauma. Keloidal tissue was excised in toto; the raw