Home phototherapy for psoriasis: a review and update.

A 2006 survey of dermatologists showed that home phototherapy should be used with caution, and that general, nonevidence-based opinions were widespread about this form of therapy. This led to a randomized controlled trial to assess the safety and efficacy of home phototherapy vs. outpatient phototherapy by the same authors in 2009, which concluded that a lower burden of treatment and increased patient satisfaction were associated with home phototherapy.

Eye protection for ultraviolet B phototherapy and psoralen ultraviolet A patients.

Background/purpose: We tested eye protection used for phototherapy patients. The study also established current practice concerning eye protection in a sample of UK phototherapy units.

Methods: The ultraviolet (UV) transmission spectra of 30 'UV protective' contact lenses were measured at 5 nm intervals between 290 and 400 nm.

Rate of acute adverse events for narrow-band UVB and Psoralen-UVA phototherapy.

Background: Ultraviolet (UV) radiation therapies are commonly used to treat a wide range of dermatological conditions. However, no published data exist regarding the rate of acute adverse events occurring within the different UV therapy modalities.

Aim: The aim of this study was to determine the rate of acute adverse events experienced by patients receiving narrow-band UVB or photochemotherapy in 3 neighboring dermatology units.

Validation of a semiautomated method of minimal erythema dose testing for narrowband ultraviolet B phototherapy.

Background: The most widely used method for establishing the minimal erythema dose (MED) before narrowband ultraviolet (UV) B phototherapy is time-consuming, inconvenient and may yield inconsistent results.

Objectives: To assess the equivalence of MED assessment using a filtered xenon arc lamp UV source, a semiautomated MED tester, and a UV-opaque template method of MED determination with a panel of TL-01 311-nm UVB fluorescent tubes. Secondly, to gauge the current usage of MED testing, and the method used, in a large sample of U.

Modulation of ultraviolet (UV) transmission by emollients: relevance to narrowband UVB phototherapy and psoralen plus UVA photochemotherapy.

Background: Patients with psoriasis undergoing or about to undergo ultraviolet (UV) phototherapy and photochemotherapy often have thick scale on their plaques which can prevent the penetration of UV radiation. Emollients are used to moisturize the skin and to prevent or reduce some of the milder side-effects ('dryness', itching) sometimes experienced during UV therapy. However, emollients can alter the UV transmission of skin and thus may alter the clinical effects of phototherapy and photochemotherapy.