Ultrasound-induced hyperthermia as adjuvant therapy for palmoplantar psoriasis

Abstract

The use of ultrasound-induced hyperthermia as adjuvant therapy was evaluated in seven patients with chronic palmoplantar psoriasis in a bilateral paired comparison study. Treatments consisted of twice-weekly 30-min applications of an ultrasound transducer operating at 8 MHz. The intensity of the device was varied between 0.30 and 0.54 W/cm2 to achieve temperatures of 42–44C at a depth of 2–3 mm beneath the skin surface as monitored with a thermocouple probe. The mean clinical score for the treatment sites was 6.0 1.6 before treatment and 2.3 0.70 after hyperthermia treatment. The mean clinical score of the control site was 5.6 1.76 and remained unchanged during the treatment period. There were no sidesffects. At the 3 month follow-up three patients continued to show clinically less severe psoriasis on the hyperthermia treated area compared with the control area.