Vitiligo treated by psoralens. A long-term follow-up study of the permanency of repigmentation

Psoralen photochemotherapy (PUVA) is only moderately effective in widespread vitiligo: a 10-year retrospective study

“…15 In contrast, Kenney reported permanency of repigmentation in 43 of 55 re-pigmented areas in 21 PUVA-treated patients. 16 This study compared demographic data in PUVAresponders who relapsed with those who did not, and noted no statistically significant differences between the groups except for age at start of treatment. Younger patients appeared to retain their repigmentation better than older patients.…”

“…Some investigators have reported continuing pigment loss following PUVA, while others have reported the re-pigmentation to be long lasting. [14][15][16] There is, however, no convincing evidence to suggest that PUVA affects the natural history of vitiligo, and PUVA-induced repigmentation should therefore be assumed to achieve only a temporary improvement. We have retrospectively reviewed 97 of our vitiligo patients treated with PUVA over a 10-year period in order to address some of these uncertainties.…”

Vitiligo: A comprehensive overview

“…The majority of the patients retain PUVA-induced repigmentation for many years, especially when treated until stagnation of repigmentation occurred. 71 Another study, however, reported a reoccurrence of vitiligo in 40% of the patients after finishing PUVA treatment. 72 For UVB phototherapy and other photochemotherapy regimens, sufficient data are not available to allow critical evaluation of long-term efficacy.…”

Sklerodermiforme Veränderungen nach PUVA-Therapie bei Vitiligo

“…Demgegenüber ist für die progrediente Repigmentierung der Vitiligo eine Langzeittherapie erforderlich. Die Therapie dauer variiert zwischen 2 und 18 Monaten -in einem Fall wurde die Therapie 54 Monate fortgeführt [11,18]. Die Dosis wird mit 89-1475 J/cm2 angegeben [16].…”