Evaluation of the effects of NB‐UVB in both segmental and non‐segmental vitiligo affecting different body sites

Abstract

The type of vitiligo, the affected anatomical area and the disease duration are important factors that influence potential re-pigmentation.

A comparative study of combined treatment with fractional carbon dioxide and targeted ultraviolet B phototherapy for facial vitiligo

“…Another observation from our study is that patients with grade 4 improvement had a shorter disease duration compared to patients with grade 0 improvement. This finding is similar to previous studies [19,22,23]. Therefore, it is advisable to initiate treatment as early as possible once the diagnosis of vitiligo has been confirmed.…”

Narrowband ultraviolet B phototherapy and 308-nm excimer laser in the treatment of vitiligo: A review

“…In our series 18 and in the study by Anbar et al, 17 a statistically significant difference was documented. Lesions on acral sites (hands and feet) always show minimal response 3,6,9,11,[13][14][15][16][17][18] and in one study 17 this observation was statistically confirmed. The reason behind this anatomic variation in response to treatment is unclear, but it may be related to the regional variation in the density of hair follicles, which have been shown to be reservoirs for melanocytes.…”

“…51 There seems to be no association between response to treatment and patients' sex, 3,9,18 age, 3,9,15,18 positive family history of vitiligo, 9,18 and body surface area affected. 9,18 The association between response to treatment and duration of vitiligo is unclear: some studies report such an association, 14,16,17 whereas others do not. 3,9,18 An earlier response to treatment has been correlated to a higher level of posttreatment repigmentation.…”

“…7 Based on the report by Westerhof and NieuweboerKrobotova, 6 the guidelines for the treatment of vitiligo 8 that were published in 1999eand have not been revised yeteproposed NB-UVB as first-choice therapy for generalized vitiligo in adults and as alternative therapy, after class-III corticosteroids, for vitiligo in children. In the following years, several studies assessed the efficacy of NB-UVB alone 3,[9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18] or in combination with other agents [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31] in the treatment of vitiligo with variable results. A number of studies [32][33][34][35] have also compared the efficacy of NB-UVB with that of PUVA in patients with vitiligo and have reported comparable or slightly better efficacy for NB-UVB.…”

Melanocyte-keratinocyte transplantation procedure in the treatment of vitiligo: The experience of an academic medical center in the United States

“…13 Lesions on the hands and feet (ie, acral vitiligo) have typically been the most difficult to treat with medical modalities. 8,14 Anbar et al 15 reported repigmentation of between 0% and 25% after treating 39 patients with acral lesions with 6 months of narrowband ultraviolet B. Considering 22% of patients achieved excellent results (and 22% receiving good repigmentation and 22% receiving fair pigmentation), there may be a particular role for the MKTP in management of vitiligo involving certain parts of the hands and feet where the tips of the fingers and toes are not involved.…”