UVB total body and targeted phototherapies

Abstract

The introduction of NB-UVB in the early eighties of the last century has evolved into one of the major accomplishments in the field of phototherapy. The concept of NB-UVB was derived from an action spectrum study in psoriasis published by Parrish et al. [68]. This study has indicated that wavelengths in the longer UVB range have superior antipsoriatic activity as compared to shorter UVB wavelengths. With the development of fluorescent tubes by the Philips Company emitting most of the light in a narrow range between 310 and 315 nm, with a peak at 311-313 nm (TL01 lamps), clinical researchers were able to put theory into practice. Subsequently, a wealth of studies indicated that NB-UVB has a better therapeutic index than conventional broadband UVB and appears to be nearly as effective as photochemotherapy (PUVA) in the treatment of psoriasis [21, 22, 47, 60]. Not surprisingly, NB-UVB was later on tried for a variety of other UV-responsive dermatoses including vitiligo. © 2010 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.