Abstract:
Back ground: Total body narrowband ultraviolet B phototherapy is a well-established treatment modality for psoriasis. Targeted UVB phototherapy is the most recent addition to this light-based therapeutic armamentarium. Its major benefits are that only diseased skin is irradiated and fewer treatment sessions are necessary to clear the lesions. Objective: Our purpose was to compare the efficacy including number of treatments, PSI score during treatment and remission time of combination of targeted narrowband UVB phototherapy and 0.1% 8-methoxypsoralen cream (8-MOP/NB-UVB) with that of targeted narrowband UVB phototherapy alone. Method: Patients with plaque-type psoriasis from the dermatology clinic at King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital were enrolled in this study. Two areas within the lesions that had the same PSI score were selected in each patients. One was treated with only targeted narrowband UVB alone and the other treated with the combination of 0.1% 8-methoxypsoralen cream and targeted UVB phototherapy. The fluence of UVB is equal in both sites of lesions (4 MED). The treatment were continued until lesions cleared or after 12 treatments. Psoriasis severity index scores were given every week until the end point. Follow-up took place at weeks 2, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20 and 24 or until the lesions returned to 50% of baseline. Results : Ten patients completed this study. There are four patients (40%) whose lesions were cleared by combination 8-MOP/NB-UVB and three patients (30%) whose lesions were cleared by NB-UVB alone. Mean number of treatments in both groups are 2.50 and 7.67, respectively. PSI scores of lesions treated with combination 8-MOP/NB-UVB decreased more than those that were treated by NB-UVB alone. Improvement in PSI score during treatment between two groups was statistically significant (p = 0.005, paired-t-test). Mean remission time of lesions which were cleared by combination 8-MOP/NB-UVB was 7.00 weeks and lesions that were cleared by NB-UVB alone was 4.67 weeks. Conclusion : We conclude that combination therapy of targeted narrowband UVB phototherapy and 0.1% 8-methoxypsoralen cream is more effective and seems to induce a longer period of remission when compared to targeted narrowband UVB phototherapy alone