Palmoplantar psoriasis is a chronic disease, which is very resistant to treatment and often leads to severe disabilities. Photochemotherapy employing psoralens combined with UVA irradiation (PUVA) is a well-accepted therapy for palmoplantar psoriasis. Its topical application (bath PUVA; cream PUVA) avoids the typical side effects of orally applied psoralens. We compared the efficacy of cream PU...

Sir, Keratosis lichenoides chronica (KLC) is a rare and chronic skin disease characterized by erythemas, keratotic and lichenoid papules, arranged in a linear pattern (1) and seborrhoeic-like scaling lesions on the trunk and limbs (1, 2). The lesions are slowly progressive with no tendency to heal and are resistant to most therapeutic modalities. Typical locations are the limbs, face, nails, pa...

We investigated the effect of the potentially carcinogenic psoralen plus UVA radiation (PUVA) therapy on the expression of p53 in skin of psoriatic patients. p53 antibodies DO7 and Pab240, antibodies against PCNA and Ki67 and the avidin-biotin immunoperoxidase complex method were used in the immunohistochemical staining of biopsy samples from non-lesional and lesional skin of 23 patients who re...

INTRODUCTION The use of psoralen baths with long-wave UV radiation, known as PUVA bath therapy, is useful in the treatment of psoriasis. The therapy is not associated with systemic adverse effects and the dose of UV-A radiation administered is lower. The objectives of this study aimed to identify the variables that influence the effectiveness of PUVA bath therapy and the duration of remission, ...

Sir, Dermatitis of the feet can be difficult to treat. Therapyresistant foot dermatitis is not limited to a particular type of dermatitis; it is encountered in allergic contact eczema, atopic eczema and endogenous forms. The key principle in the management of allergic contact dermatitis is avoidance of the relevant allergen; for example, chromate or rubber substances in the shoes. However, wear...

Biologics are becoming first-line therapies as systemic treatments for psoriasis. Although these highly effective, patients unable to take them medical or financial reasons may be considered phototherapy. We have initiated photochemotherapy with bathwater delivery of psoralen plus UVA (bath-PUVA) since 1998 and collected the data 229 (180 males 49 females) treated bath-PUVA from 2004 up Septemb...