Knowledge about the influence of salt water baths on UV irradiation, especially balneophototherapy, is incomplete. The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of various concentrated salt solutions on the minimal erythema dose (MED). We determined the MEDdry (UVB) in 24 healthy, previously UV unexposed subjects on the inner forearm. Subjects were divided randomly into two groups of 12. Subsequently, the MEDwet was assessed on each forearm after 30 min tap water or 5% salt water bath (group A), respectively, or after 30 min 10% or 20% salt water bath (group B), respectively. Compared with the MEDdry, a significantly decreased MEDwet, was observed after all exposures (group A==>F = 18.94; P < 0.001; group B==>F = 11.73; P < 0.006). A maximal relative decrease in MEDdry of about 51.4% was observed after the 10% salt water bath. The 5% salt solution caused a modest relative decrease in MEDwet of 23.4%. We observed a markedly increased photosensitivity to UVB after all exposures, without a linear correlation between the MED and the salt water concentration. A determination of MED during balneophototherapy should be carried out after bathing in order to reduce the cumulative UV dose and to prevent acute photodamage.

The natural course of TND deserves attention. Hazelrigg et al. suggested that TND appears to be a self limited abnormality which slowly improves with age. Subsequent reports, however, suggest that TND may persist into adulthood [ 1-51. TND appears to be neither a specific disorder nor a dystrophy confined to children, but represents a morphological entity presenting a characteristic pattern of nail changes. Our cases are interesting in that the nail changes were present at the time of birth and to our knowledge, this is the first report about TND occurring in monozygotic twins. These findings indicate that some genetic factors may play a role in the etiopathogenesis of this entity.

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract