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8‐methoxypsoralen cream plus targeted narrowband ultraviolet B for psoriasis
Author(s) -
Amornpinyokeit Noppadol,
Asawada Pravit
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
photodermatology, photoimmunology and photomedicine
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.736
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 1600-0781
pISSN - 0905-4383
DOI - 10.1111/j.1600-0781.2006.00249.x
Subject(s) - clearance , psoriasis , medicine , dermatology , erythema , ultraviolet b , adverse effect , target lesion , ultraviolet b radiation , lesion , ultraviolet radiation , surgery , urology , chemistry , percutaneous coronary intervention , myocardial infarction , radiochemistry
Background: Targeted ultraviolet (UV) phototherapy is a recent addition to the therapeutic armamentarium for the treatment of localized psoriasis. Topical psoralens enhance the therapeutic effects of UV‐based treatment for various dermatoses, but have never been used in conjunction with targeted UVB. Purpose: To compare the efficacy of targeted narrowband UVB phototherapy (NB‐UVB) alone with that of the combination of 0.1% 8‐methoxypsoralen cream and targeted NB‐UVB phototherapy (8‐MOP/NB‐UVB) for the treatment of plaque‐type psoriasis. Methods: Two areas within the same lesion of stable psoriasis were randomized to receive either targeted NB‐UVB alone or 8‐MOP/NB‐UVB. Fluences of UVB delivered were held constant at four minimal erythema doses. The treatments were continued until lesions cleared or 12 treatments. Follow‐ups were done until lesional scores returned to 50% of the baseline values. Results: Ten patients completed this study. Four lesions were cleared by 8‐MOP/NB‐UVB while three were cleared by NB‐UVB alone. The improvement in disease activity as reflected by psoriasis severity index score during treatment was statistically significantly better in the combination group ( P =0.005). Mean remission time of lesions which were cleared by 8‐MOP/NB‐UVB was 8 weeks while that for lesions that were cleared by NB‐UVB alone was 4.67 weeks. Conclusion: We concluded that addition of 0.1% 8‐MOP cream to targeted narrowband UVB significantly enhances the therapeutic effects of the light treatment without increasing the incidence of adverse effects.