NB-UVB therapy is an effective and safe method for use in the treatment of PMH.

Type:Uv phototherapy   Time:2015-04-13 16:53:57
BACKGROUND:
Little information is available on effective treatments for progressive macular hypomelanosis (PMH). To our knowledge, only one case of narrowband ultraviolet B (NB-UVB) therapy as an efficient treatment for patients with PMH has been reported in the recent literature.
OBJECTIVE:
We aimed to investigate the clinical features of PMH in Koreans and to determine the therapeutic efficacy of NB-UVB therapy in the management of PMH.
METHODS:
We performed an uncontrolled prospective study designed to evaluate the usefulness of NB-UVB therapy in PMH. A total of 23 patients with PMH were enrolled in the study. Of these, 17 patients underwent treatment with NB-UVB therapy once or twice weekly and were eligible for analysis. The remaining 6 patients were lost to follow-up before completion of the treatment. Repigmentation was evaluated by two dermatologists using photographic documentation.
RESULTS:
In our trial, NB-UVB therapy was used successfully in 9 of 16 patients (56.2%), who showed more than 90% repigmentation. We found that 13 of 16 patients (81.3%) experienced at least 50% repigmentation. The repigmented sites showed an excellent color match. No signs of recurrence have been detected in 11 of these 16 patients (68.7%) up to the present time (13.2 ¡À 8.2 months of follow-up).
LIMITATIONS:
Our study includes a small number of subjects examined, and it was an uncontrolled and non-double-blind study.
CONCLUSIONS:
The findings of this study suggest that NB-UVB therapy is an effective and safe method for use in the treatment of PMH.
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