An Evaluation of the Safety Profile of Phototherapy for Dermatoses1
Phototherapy, such as narrow-band ultraviolet B, has been proven to be an effective treatment for various dermatological diseases including atopic dermatitis. However, investigation on adverse events of phototherapy in clinical practice is inadequate. A single-centre, prospective observational study, involving 872 patients with dermatological diseases were treated with phototherapy. It was demonstrated that 19.1% of phototherapy treatment courses were associated with adverse events. The most frequent adverse events were erythema (8.8%), whereas systemic photochemotherapy with psoralen and ultraviolet A (PUVA) had the highest rate of adverse events (32.5%). Mycosis fungoides was the dermatosis with the highest rate of adverse events (36.9%). Nonetheless, only few treatments (4.1%) were discontinued due to adverse events.
References
1. Belinchón et al. Acta Derm Venereol. 2020;100(6):0.
