Psoralen-UV-A (PUVA) therapy with topical 8-methoxypsoralen (8-MOP) is a widely used treatment for patients with moderate to severe psoriasis.1,2 The current regimen for bath PUVA involves soaks in a diluted 8-MOP bath followed by UV-A irradiation twice weekly. Bath PUVA has several advantages over oral PUVA as it avoids the adverse effects of oral psoralen administration (gastrointestinal dist...

Background: While phototherapy is a well-established treatment for many dermatoses, data from the literature regarding its use in elderly patients are quite limited. oBjective: In this study, we aimed to determine the phototherapy indications in geriatric patients and to evaluate the effectiveness and reliability of phototherapy in this group. Methods: This study included 95 patients of 65 year...

Psoralen plus UVA light (PUVA) is commonly used to treat psoriasis, a common skin disorder associated with rapid proliferation of cells. PUVA exerts its antiproliferative activity through formation of DNA monoadducts and interstrand cross-links (ICLs). However, this treatment may lead to skin malignancies as a direct result of inducing carcinogenic DNA damage. Inactivation of the p53 tumor supp...

AIM Evaluation of narrow band ultraviolet B (NB UVB 311 nm) in the treatment of vitiligo by two independent studies. The first study compared NB UVB with a well-established therapeutic modality, psoralen ultraviolet A (PUVA), and the second study was conducted to find out whether psoralen might add to its efficacy. METHODS In the first study, 15 patients were exposed on the left half of their...

Wristwatches, another very frequently used item, showed alarmingly high incidences of free nickel, with around 64% of the specimens testing positive. Wristwatches are potentially more hazardous as the area of skin contact is a lot more and are normally worn daily for prolonged periods. Though not prone to as much skin contact, spectacle frames showed a surprisingly high incidence rate, with hal...

UNLABELLED HIV/AIDS infection in Bulgaria has spread over about 1200 registered patients and it is supposed that the number of the undetected cases is four times higher. Kaposi's sarcoma is rarely observed in our country and no cutaneous-mucosal dissemination is reported for the time being. AIM The aim of the study is to present a case of disseminated Kaposi's sarcoma in a HIV/ AIDS patient w...

BACKGROUND Photo(chemo)therapy is widely used to treat psoriasis, the pathogenesis of which might be caused by an imbalance of Th17 cells/regulatory T cells (Treg). In the present study, we evaluated the effects of photo(chemo)therapy on the Th17/Treg balance and Treg function. METHODS Peripheral blood was obtained from psoriasis patients treated with bath-psoralen ultraviolet A (UVA, n = 50)...