PUVA-Bath Photochemotherapy of Lichen Planus

Abstract

Lichen planus (LP) is a common inflammatory skin disease, accounting for approximately 1% of all diagnoses seen in patients seeking dermatologic care. In some patients, therapy remains difficult, and systemic application of glucocorticosteroids, cyclosporine, systemic photochemotherapy with psoralen plus UV-A (PUVA), and acitretin have been used with limited success.¹To circumvent the problems of oral PUVA therapy, methoxsalen (8-methoxypsoralen) in a dilute bathwater solution may be applied to the skin before UV-A.²A PUVA-bath photochemotherapy regimen has been shown to be an elegant alternative in the treatment of psoria- sis.^2,3We describe our first four patients with LP who received PUVA-bath photochemotherapy. <h3>Patients and Methods.</h3> Four patients (age range, 42 to 76 years) with histopathologically proven LP received PUVA-bath photochemotherapy (<b>Table</b>). All had a history of LP for 14 to 24 months and had received topical or systemic glucocorticosteroids, oral PUVA (one patient), and acitretin (one patient),