ISSN:
1365-2230
Source:
Blackwell Publishing Journal Backfiles 1879-2005
Topics:
Medicine
Notes:
Ten patients with chronic widespread plaque psoriasis, all of whom had previously completely cleared and suffered a suhsequent widespread relapse after conventional PUVA therapy, were treated with a modified UVA dosage schedule, with psoralen formulation and dosage unchanged. Initial and incremental UVA doses were maximized to near-erythemogenic levels as determined hy weekly testing for minimal phototoxic dose (MPD), treatment heing given three times a week. A comparison of complete psoriasis clearing hetween the modified treatment and the last PUVA course showed a geometric mean reduction in treatment duration of 55% (P 〈 0001) for a similar numher of treatments each week, and a cumulative UVA dose of 31% (P〈0 05), representing a reduction in treatment duration from 9-1 to 4-1 weeks and cumulative UVA dose reduction of 100-8 to 69-9 J/cm2. Such an improvement in efficiency permits a marked increase in treated patient numhers for the same cost, and s i more convenient. The reduction in the total cumulative UVA dose given as larger individual doses also seems likely to lead to a lower incidence of cutaneous long-term, especially carcinogenic, adverse effects.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2230.1989.tb02579.x
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