Photochemotherapy treatment for psoriasis.

Abstract

Psoriasis is a disease resulting from accelerated replication and abnormal maturation of epidermal cells.1 It has a 1 to 2 percent prevalence in the United States.1 Currently, therapy is merely suppressive. Conventional treatment for psoriasis is the Goeckerman technique, involving the use of tar and ultraviolet B (UVB) (290–320 nm).2 Classically, this treatment is delivered on an inpatient basis. The Goeckerman regimen is usually effective but is very messy. A relatively new treatment for psoriasis, called PUVA, also involves ultraviolet radiation. The name of the treatment is derived from its components: psoralen, a systemic photosensitizing drug, and ultraviolet A (320–400 nm) radiation. The use of PUVA allows a neat outpatient therapeutic program that may be used as maintenance therapy after the lesions have cleared. The PUVA treatment is not a cure for psoriasis but can be very effective in controlling its signs.3