The Study of Dose Incremental Regimen for Narrow-Band UVB Phototherapy in Psoriatic patients

Choe, Yong Beom; Rim, Jong Hyun; Youn, Jai Il

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Narrow-band UVB phototherapy using 311+/-2nm wavelength is in widespread use due to its greater efficacy and, possibly, safety compared with broad-band UVB sources. However, its optimal dose increment regimen is not determined.
OBJECTIVE
We performed narrow-band UVB(NBUVB) phototherapy to compare clinical efficacy between fixed and 20% incremental regimen in Korean psoriasis patients.
METHODS
Twenty four psoriasis patients received narrow-band UVB phototherapy. Among them, fifteen patients received fixed regimen and nine patients, 20% incremental regimen. We categorized each patient into clearing, improvement, or failure groups based on the therapeutic efficacy, measured the PASI score every two weeks and calculated cumulative dose of narrow-band UVB.
RESULTS
We found no statistically significant difference between two regimen. However, there is a tendency that irradiation number and duration of treatment are smaller in 20% incremental regimen but, in terms of cumulative dose, fixed incremental regimen is better than 20%.
CONCLUSION
These results suggests that 20% incremental regimen may clear psoriasis faster than fixed but that the latter regimen may be equally effective as it requires slighty more treatment sessions at a lower cumulative dose.