Narrowband UVB phototherapy in vitiligo: evaluation of results in 53 patients.

AIM: Narrowband UVB (NBUVB)phototherapy has been used for vitiligo for years, but today there are no standardized protocols of treatment and follow-up data. A long-term study on 53 patients with localized or diffuse vitiligo is presented with the aim at improving the data availability in the literature.

METHODS

Phototherapy was administered two times a week on non-consecutive days; the treatment was continued for one year. The mean total dose administered was 201.28 J/cm2.The response to phototherapy was expressed as percentage of repigmentation: a repigmentation greater than 75% was considered excellent, a repigmentation between 74% and 50% good, a repigmentation between 49% and 25% moderate, a repigmentation less than 24% mild. In case of absence of repigmentation, the patient was judged as non-responder

RESULTS

Three point eight percent of patients showed excellent response, 32.05% good response, 32.05% moderate response, 28.3% mild response, while the remaining 3.8% was not responsive. According to statistical analysis best responses, were observed in non-acral areas (P<0.001), in patients with recent vitiligo (P=0.003), in patients with negative family history for vitiligo (P=0.038), and in those not exposed to previous therapies (P=0.005). In 36 patients a mean follow-up of 19.78 months was obtained.

CONCLUSION

NBUVB phototherapy is useful and safe for vitiligo, but in the future it will be necessary to compare results of different studies using the same treatment protocols and to obtain data of series endowed with an adequate follow-up.