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Photo(chemo)therapy for vitiligo
Author(s) -
Pacifico Alessia,
Leone Giovanni
Publication year - 2011
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.1600-0781.2011.00606.x
Subject(s) - vitiligo , dermatology , psoralen , medicine , ultraviolet b , ultraviolet therapy , treatment modality , ultraviolet light , excimer , chemistry , photochemistry , surgery , laser , psoriasis , optics , dna , biochemistry , physics
Vitiligo is a common skin disease characterized by loss of normal melanin pigments in the skin and its pathogenesis is still unclear. Treatment modalities include psoralen plus ultraviolet A, narrow‐band ultraviolet B (NB UVB) phototherapy, topical and systemic steroids, topical calcineurin inhibitors, topical vitamin D analogues in monotherapy or in association with phototherapy, and surgical treatment. NB UVB (310–315 nm) radiation is now considered as the ‘gold standard’ for the treatment of diffuse vitiligo, and treatment with two recently introduced UVB sources that emit 308 nm wavelengths, the 308 nm xenon chloride (XeCl) excimer laser and the 308 nm XeCl excimer light, has also been reported to be effective and might be the treatment of choice for localized disease: this treatment modality has been defined as ‘targeted phototherapy.’