What lab monitoring do you perform for patients taking isotretinoin?

Topics: Dermatology • General Dermatology

What labs do you order? How often do you order labs?

Have you ever needed to discontinue isotretinoin due to lab abnormalities?

Answer from: at Academic Institution

I am a lab minimalist. I do ALT(past months have eliminated the AST) and fasting TGs at the start. Then at month 2 or max dose 1 mg/kg, I check ALT and fasting TGs. If there are any elevations at baseline, will check at month one which is usually 0.5mg/kg for me, and then month 2 (at the max dose) a...

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at Good Dermatology - Torrance, CA
Thank you, Dr. @Levy for this very helpful answer....

Answer from: at Community Practice

I echo Dr. @Levy's statements and rationale above. I routinely check only ALT and triglycerides at baseline (within a month prior to initiation), and then again at the goal dose of 1 mg/kg/day. This, of course, is modified by patient-specific factors--mainly any abnormalities at baseline--as well as...

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at Epiphany Dermatology
For otherwise healthy young patients, I want to se...

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