Effective treatment of Vitiligo

Type:Uv phototherapy Time:2017-04-07 11:29:56

Unlike Psoriasis, the possibilities for treating vitiligo are limited to phototherapy, except for a small number of patients with stable vitiligo, who can be treated with skin autologous pigment grafts.
The first report of the use of ""phototherapy"" in the treatment of skin disorders dates from about 1400 BC among Hindus, as already mentioned. They used ""photochemotherapy""-administration of plant extracts, followed by sun exposure-for vitiligo. The same treatment was also used in ancient Egypt. The active ingredients in these plant extracts were isolated in 1947 by Fahmy et al. as 8-methoxypsoralen (8-MOP) and 5-methoxypsoralen (MOP). In the same year, these authors and also El Mofty started to treat patients with vitiligo with 8-MOP and sun exposure.
Kromayer, a German dermatologist, designed in 1904 a water cooled mercury vapor UV lamp. He was the first to treat vitiligo with artificial UVB.

In 1969 Fulton et al. used "black light" UVA tubes for the first time in combination with topical 8-MOP in the treatment of vitiligo. Parrish and Fitzpatrick introduced modern photochemotherapy with 8-MOP, having a peak sensitivity at 330 nm and UVA fluorescent tubes. They used fluorescent tubes emitting in the 320 - 380 nm waveband in the PUVA treatment of vitiligo. Although late effects, e.g. skin carcinogenesis, have rarely been reported in vitiligo, the frequently observed phototoxic responses were considered a severe practical problem.
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