Childhood lichen planus: demographics of a U.S. population.

Lichen planus is an inflammatory dermatosis of unknown origin that is relatively uncommon in children. Demographic data for lichen planus of children in the United States are lacking, with most large case reports originating from India, Kuwait, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. We hypothesized that a greater proportion of our pediatric lichen planus patients were African American, an observation not previously documented.

Pilot evaluation of supra-erythemogenic phototherapy with excimer laser in the treatment of patients with moderate to severe plaque psoriasis.

Background: Phototherapy is an effective treatment for generalized plaque psoriasis, but is inconvenient and dosimetry is limited by the minimal erythema dose (MED).

Objective: This pilot study evaluated the efficacy, safety, and feasibility of excimer laser utilizing a supra-erythemogenic phototherapy strategy (phototherapy well beyond the MED dose) to treat generalized psoriasis.

Methods: In this 9-month study, 13 patients with psoriasis involving > 10% but < 30% body surface area received laser treatment twice weekly for 12 weeks, with 6 months of post-treatment follow-up.