ABSTRACT
PUVA therapy is a combined drug and ultraviolet light program. You will take a psoralen (Oxsoralen Ultra) medication before you get into a special ultraviolet A (UVA) light box. PUVA was first developed in 1974 and has been used to treat a variety of skin disorders including psoriasis, vitiligo, mycosis fungoides, and various other skin conditions. This treatment is NOT A CURE, but may effectively control or improve your disease. The psoralen medication may be taken by pill form (systemic PUVA) or by soaking in a topical solution (bath PUVA). The medication makes the skin more sensitive to the UVA light, which makes the light work more effectively. Each condition and patient will vary in the number of treatments needed. Initially, the treatment will start with only a few minutes of light exposure, and then may gradually increase to approximately 20 minutes of exposure depending on patient tolerance and skin condition being treated. The average patient requires 2-3 treatments per week. Most psoriasis and eczema patients require 15-20 treatments to improve the disease. Mycosis fungoides and vitiligo often need more treatments. After clearing, some patients continue with maintenance treatments every 2-4 weeks for many months. The expected benefits of PUVA phototherapy are:
(1) Improvement of existing lesions; (2) Reduction of new lesions; (3) Remission-in many cases phototherapy has resulted in a near-total clearing of the disease process. The duration of remission
varies with each patient. Maintenance therapy may be required.
