Successful treatment of recalcitrant dissecting cellulitis of the scalp with ALA-PDT: case report and literature review.

A case of refractory dissecting cellulitis of the scalp (DCS) in a forty-one-year-old Chinese female patient was treated with a total of 6 sessions of topical ALA-PDT at one week intervals. The patient tolerated and responded well to this new approach without any adverse events. This suggested that topical ALA-PDT could be an effective and safe alternative for DCS patients who were refractory to other conventional therapies. We also reviewed etiology, pathophysiology, natural history and treatment options for DCS.