COMPARISON OF PHOTOTHERAPY (UV-B) AND PHOTOCHEMOTHERAPY (PUVA) FOR CLEARING AND MAINTENANCE THERAPY OF PSORIASIS

Patients with psoriasis (183) were treated with UV-B irradiation of oral methoxsalen plus longwave UV light (PUVA). Patients treated with PUVA, in the initial and maintenance period, achieved in general a higher therapeutic score (95-100% clearance) than those receiving UV-B therapy. Taking 80-100% improvement as criterion, no difference was found between initial UV-B and PUVA therapy, if < 50% of the skin surface was affected by psoriasis. If > 50% of the skin was involved, PUVA was better than UV-B therapy. The maintenance treatment frequency for the UV-B-treated patients for more than a yr seemed to be higher than for PUVA-treated patients. A positive correlation exists between response to sunbathing (questionnaire survey) and the response to UV-B phototherapy. An extra UV-B treatment to the leg lesions appeared useless.