High-frequency ultrasound scan for non-invasive cross-sectional imaging of psoriasis.

Seventeen patients with psoriasis vulgaris were studied by high-frequency (20 MHz) ultrasound imaging. An echo-lucent band located at the dermo-epidermal junction was characteristic. The band represents the combination of acanthotic epidermal thickening and inflammation. Thus, with ultrasound the site within the skin where primary events take place can be studied and followed non-invasively, i.e. with no known disturbance and influence on the course of the disease.