Psoralen plus ultraviolet A (PUVA) soaks and UVB TL01 treatment for chronic hand dermatoses

Chronic eczematous hand dermatoses with and without contact allergies are complex diseases, which makes it a challenge to select the best treatment and obtain an optimal patient experience and a satisfactory treatment result. The aim of this study was to evaluate retrospectively the clinical effect and patient experience of local treatment with psoralen plus ultraviolet A (PUVA) soaks and TL01 phototherapy for severe chronic hand dermatoses, and also to evaluate the quality of life for the subgroup of patients with allergic contact dermatitis including Compositae allergy. A retrospective evaluation of results for 94 consecutive patients having received a total of 121 treatment courses with local PUVA soaks or TL01 phototherapy for one of the following diagnoses (n=number of treatment courses): psoriasis (n=19), hyperkeratotic hand eczema (n=27), Pustulosis Palmoplantaris (PPP) (n=22), vesicular eczema (n=16), Compositae dermatitis (n=24), and allergic contact dermatitis (n=13). Moreover, semi-structured interviews with 6 selected patients having multiple contact allergies including Compositae allergy were used to evaluate quality of life. As a result, we found that PUVA soaks has good effect in patients with psoriasis and hyperkeratotic hand eczema and local phototherapy for chronic hand dermatoses is a useful treatment option in selected cases.