Monochromatic excimer light 308 nm in the treatment of vitiligo: a pilot study

Abstract

Treatment with 308 nm MEL for vitiligo may be more effective in obtaining rapid repigmentation than phototherapy with NB UVB. The results in this study are similar to those recently reported with a 308 nm excimer laser, but 308 MEL could present some advantages: the possibility of treating larger areas compared to the 308 nm excimer laser, with shorter treatment times and better patient compliance. The overall good results and the early appearance of repigmentation contribute to reducing the cumulative exposure to UV radiation.

Ultraviolet B (UVB) Phototherapy in the Treatment of Vitiligo

“…When a 308-nm MEL delivery system was used in vitiligo, half of lesions showed repigmentation at 2 weeks, and after an 8 week treatment period followed by a nontreatment 5 week observation period, all patients maintained their respective degrees of improvement (Table 3) (Chimento, Newland et al, 2008). In general, patients who respond to MEL do so at the beginning, otherwise they do not respond at all (Leone, Iacovelli et al, 2003). MEL has also successfully treated previously NB-UVB refractory disease, and has been shown to be more effective and quicker than conventional NB-UVB (Leone, Iacovelli et al, 2003;Le Duff, Fontas et al, 2010).…”

“…In general, patients who respond to MEL do so at the beginning, otherwise they do not respond at all (Leone, Iacovelli et al, 2003). MEL has also successfully treated previously NB-UVB refractory disease, and has been shown to be more effective and quicker than conventional NB-UVB (Leone, Iacovelli et al, 2003;Le Duff, Fontas et al, 2010). In a head-to-head study in which patients served as their own controls, the 308-nm excimer laser and MEL lamp had similar efficacy, although the lamp induces more erythema (Le Duff, Fontas et al, 2010).…”

“…The advantage of MEL includes the ability to irradiate larger body surface areas rather than the confined target areas of lasers and that it can be used to treat the entire body at once. It can also be customized to treat certain patches, has the perks of shorter treatment times, frequency, and total treatment duration, which in turn can lead to increased patient compliance (Leone, Iacovelli et al, 2003).…”

Treatment of Vitiligo and New Treatment Approaches

“…Haftada bir seans uygulanmas , direkt hedefe yönelik bir tedavi yön-temi oldu u için yan etkinin daha az izlenmesi ve dar bant UVB tedavisine dirençli olgularda kullan labilmesi di er avantajlar d r. Maliyetinin yüksek olmas ise dezavantaj d r. MEL'in daha geni alanlar tedavi edebilmesi, daha k sa tedavi süresi ve hasta uyumunun daha iyi olmas excimer lazere göre önemli üstünlükleridir. Repigmentasyonun erken ba lamas nedeniyle maruz kal nan toplam UV dozunun daha dü ük olmas di er bir önemli avantaj d r (43). MEL topikal takrolimus ile de kombine kullan labilir (44).…”

Targeted Broadband UVB Phototherapy forthe Treatment of Localized Vitiligo

“…Several reports have shown successful results for 308-nm excimer lasers, which are costly and difficult to maintain, or using light with a wavelength that lies close to that of NB-UVB [9][10][11][12][13][14] . Our purpose in this study was to examine the feasibility of a targeted UVB light JE Kim, et al Vol.…”