Roux C, Sbidian E, Bouaziz JD, et al. - In light of findings of this retrospective national multicenter cohort study, it is inferred that thalidomide could serve as an alternative treatment for chronic erythema multiforme (EM).

• Participants were adults (n=35) aged 18 years or older under dermatology care for chronic EM (including recurrent and persistent forms) who had received thalidomide between 2010 and 2018.

• Following 6 months of thalidomide therapy, no flare of EM occurred in 23 patients, at least 1 flare occurred in 7 patients, and thalidomide discontinuation occurred in 5 cases.

• By 12 months, 25 patients stopped taking thalidomide.

• Overall, two-thirds of the patients achieved complete remission with second-line therapy with thalidomide, but adverse events were a common cause of thalidomide withdrawal.

• Dose reduction when possible may enable continuation, via tolerance improvement, in the long term.