Biomaterial Database

Phototherapy of atopic dermatitis with ultraviolet radiation. 1992

J Jekler

Department of Dermatology, University of Göteborg, Sweden.

Studies were conducted in order to evaluate the efficacy of different ultraviolet wavelength regions for the treatment of atopic dermatitis, the risks associated herewith and the in vivo effect of ultraviolet radiation (UVR) on the bacterial skin flora. In bilateral left-right comparisons, adult patients suffering from atopic dermatitis were subjected to treatment with lamps mainly emitting ultraviolet radiation A, UVA, (315-400 nm), UVB (280-315 nm) and combined UVA-UVB, UVAB, respectively. UVAB proved to be most efficacious, with objective and subjective statistically significant superiority to the other types of UVR. UVB was found to be the least efficacious of the three, while the efficacy of UVA was found to lie in between UVAB and UVB. UVAB yielded clearing or considerable improvement in 90% of the patients, while UVA and UVB did so in about 70% of the subjects. Objective differences were less pronounced than subjective ones. The two most common side-effects, xerosis and first-degree burn, were tolerable and clearly correlated to the UVB content of the UVR sources. Uncommon side-effects included polymorphic light eruption (all three types of UVR) and folliculitis (UVB). A typical patient with atopic dermatitis undergoing phototherapy with UVB or UVAB was found to receive an erythemally effective dose of 1 J/cm2 per year, a figure considerably lower than that for UVB-treated psoriasis patients, who, according to previously reported data, receive an annual dose of 4J/cm2. Treatment for 15 years from the age of 25 years will result in an increase in the risk of non-melanoma skin cancer by the age of 60 of 1.15 compared with the risk in untreated individuals. The risks with phototherapy for atopic dermatitis were thus judged to be small. Phototherapy with UVB radiation was shown to possess in vivo antistaphylococcal properties, which were paralleled by clinical efficacy. It is concluded that phototherapy is an effective mode of therapy in patients with mild or moderate atopic dermatitis.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D008297	Male		Males
D011879	Radiotherapy Dosage	The total amount of radiation absorbed by tissues as a result of radiotherapy.	Dosage, Radiotherapy,Dosages, Radiotherapy,Radiotherapy Dosages
D003876	Dermatitis, Atopic	A chronic inflammatory genetically determined disease of the skin marked by increased ability to form reagin (IgE), with increased susceptibility to allergic rhinitis and asthma, and hereditary disposition to a lowered threshold for pruritus. It is manifested by lichenification, excoriation, and crusting, mainly on the flexural surfaces of the elbow and knee. In infants it is known as infantile eczema.	Eczema, Atopic,Eczema, Infantile,Neurodermatitis, Atopic,Neurodermatitis, Disseminated,Atopic Dermatitis,Atopic Eczema,Atopic Neurodermatitis,Disseminated Neurodermatitis,Infantile Eczema
D005069	Evaluation Studies as Topic	Works about studies that determine the effectiveness or value of processes, personnel, and equipment, or the material on conducting such studies.	Critique,Evaluation Indexes,Evaluation Methodology,Evaluation Report,Evaluation Research,Methodology, Evaluation,Pre-Post Tests,Qualitative Evaluation,Quantitative Evaluation,Theoretical Effectiveness,Use-Effectiveness,Critiques,Effectiveness, Theoretical,Evaluation Methodologies,Evaluation Reports,Evaluation, Qualitative,Evaluation, Quantitative,Evaluations, Qualitative,Evaluations, Quantitative,Indexes, Evaluation,Methodologies, Evaluation,Pre Post Tests,Pre-Post Test,Qualitative Evaluations,Quantitative Evaluations,Report, Evaluation,Reports, Evaluation,Research, Evaluation,Test, Pre-Post,Tests, Pre-Post,Use Effectiveness
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000328	Adult	A person having attained full growth or maturity. Adults are of 19 through 44 years of age. For a person between 19 and 24 years of age, YOUNG ADULT is available.	Adults
D001419	Bacteria	One of the three domains of life (the others being Eukarya and ARCHAEA), also called Eubacteria. They are unicellular prokaryotic microorganisms which generally possess rigid cell walls, multiply by cell division, and exhibit three principal forms: round or coccal, rodlike or bacillary, and spiral or spirochetal. Bacteria can be classified by their response to OXYGEN: aerobic, anaerobic, or facultatively anaerobic; by the mode by which they obtain their energy: chemotrophy (via chemical reaction) or PHOTOTROPHY (via light reaction); for chemotrophs by their source of chemical energy: CHEMOLITHOTROPHY (from inorganic compounds) or chemoorganotrophy (from organic compounds); and by their source for CARBON; NITROGEN; etc.; HETEROTROPHY (from organic sources) or AUTOTROPHY (from CARBON DIOXIDE). They can also be classified by whether or not they stain (based on the structure of their CELL WALLS) with CRYSTAL VIOLET dye: gram-negative or gram-positive.	Eubacteria
D012867	Skin	The outer covering of the body that protects it from the environment. It is composed of the DERMIS and the EPIDERMIS.
D014467	Ultraviolet Therapy	The use of ultraviolet electromagnetic radiation in the treatment of disease, usually of the skin. This is the part of the sun's spectrum that causes sunburn and tanning. Ultraviolet A, used in PUVA, is closer to visible light and less damaging than Ultraviolet B, which is ionizing.	Actinotherapy,Therapy, Ultraviolet,Actinotherapies,Therapies, Ultraviolet,Ultraviolet Therapies