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The American Academy of Dermatology's latest guidelines on the management of psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis focus on phototherapy.
Despite therapeutic advances in recent years, phototherapy remains an important treatment option for patients with psoriasis, according to Dr. Alan Menter, chairman of the division of dermatology at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, and his associates.
One area of ongoing investigative research compares narrow-band ultraviolet B light (NB-UVB) with psoralen-ultraviolet A light (PUMA) treatment. While PUMA, usually with oral 8-methoxypsoralen, seems to result in more rapid clearance of psoriasis plaques with fewer adverse events, more research with larger numbers of patients needs to be done.
