AN OPEN CLINICAL-TRIAL OF A NEW MOUTH-PUVA VARIANT IN THE TREATMENT OF ORAL LICHENOID LESIONS

Objective. To investigate the feasibility of topical psoralen PUVA (se nsitization in photosensitizing psoralen drug + UVA radiation) treatme nt of oral lichenoid lesions (OLL). Study design. A total of 16 patien ts with OLL were treated using a 0.01% trioxsalen ointment and UVA dos es in the 0.09 to 1.80 J/cm(2) range. The average number of sessions w as 8.7 and a mean cumulative irradiation dose was 4.25 J/cm(2). Result s. A marked-to-complete healing occurred in 3 of 16 (19%) patients imm ediately after therapy, in 4 of 14 (29%) after 3 months, and in 5 of 1 4 (38%) after 14 months, respectively. Of the 16 subjects with OLL, fi ve were diagnosed as oral lichen planus (OLP) and 11 were classified a s oral lichenoid reaction (OLR). Post-PUVA amelioration rate in patien ts with genuine OLP (4 of 5, 80%) was superior to that in patients wit h OLR (1 of 9, 11%). Conclusion. Topical trioxsalen photosensitization can be used in mouth-PUVA treatment, and lichen planus is a main indi cation for this therapy.