PHOTODERMATOSES

Abstract

Dermatoses associated with the existence in the skin of molecules capable of intensifying the effects of the sun and/or making the skin's immune system react after photo-activation are reported. These are the genuine photodermatoses which form the subject of this article. The spectrum of photonic action basically lies in the ultraviolet range of visible light. The molecules with an origin in pathological processes are either perfectly identifiable, and this is the domain of photosensibilization, or they are not yet identified and in that case one talks about idiopathic lucites (a nosological framework progressively dismantled by recent discoveries in photochemistry and photobiology).