Abstract
Recently, introduction of narrow band UVB phototherapy has significantly improved the therapeutic efficacy and safety of classical broad band UVB phototherapy. The efficacy of narrow band UVB phototherapy in severe chronic adult type atopic dermatitis (AD) was reported. Eleven outpatients with adult type AD were subjected to narrow band UVB phototherapy. We used two clinical scores, the patient score (PS) and the clinical score (CS), for evaluating the severity of AD patients. The PS is the global severity score of the dermatitis using a simple from filled out by a patient. The CS is the score by clinicians using a method based on the characteristic symptoms of adult AD. We compared the PS with the CS befor phototherapy, after 10 times phototherapy, and after 20 times phototherapy. The mean values of the PS significantly decreased from 17.6 to 13.9 at 10 times phototherapy (P=0.0183). The mean values of the CS also significantly decreased from 168 to 125 (P=0.0006). In seven patients, We measured blood eosinophil counts, serum LDH and serum IgE before phototherapy and after 20 times phototherapy. The serum LDH level significantly decreased from 420 IU/ml to 217 IU/ml (P=0.0037). The serum IgE level also significantly decreased from 12,036 IU/ml to 7,812 IU/ml (P=0.0006). We concluded that narrow band UVB therapy was effective for treating adult type AD.
