An unusual cause of burn injury: unsupervised use of drugs that contain psoralens.

Although psoralens are useful components of the psoralen ultraviolet A-range therapy that is mainly used for the treatment of vitiligo, psoriasis, and hypopigmented scars, they have a narrow margin of safety. Oral and topical forms of psoralen-containing drugs are routinely used in medicine. Because psoralens sensitize skin to ultraviolet A light, phototoxic reactions are the most frequent adverse effect of this treatment. Sunburn may sometimes be a major injury in psoralen users because high doses or inappropriate use of the drug may render the skin extremely sensitive. In this article, we present the case of a vitiligo patient who was admitted to our facility with an intense burn after the topical use of 8-methoxypsoralen solution as a suntanning agent. We will also discuss the unusual nature of this type of burn and the course of phototoxic lesions and their differences from a typical sunburn.