Combination phototherapy of psoriasis with narrow-band UVB irradiation andtopical tazarotene gel

Background: Narrow-band WE (311 nm) phototherapy offering an emission spect rum closely conforming to the peak of the action spectrum for clearing psor iasis has significantly improved phototherapy for psoriasis. Because the ma jority of the commonly used topical therapies in treatment of psoriasis hav e limitations, a need for new topical agents remains. Tazarotene has been s hown to be efficacious in plaque-type psoriasis. Combination of narrow-band UVB with topical agents has been shown to enhance efficacy of both treatme nt modalities. Objective: We attempted to evaluate the efficacy of narrow-band WE photothe rapy in combination with topical tazarotene. Methods: Ten patients with stable plaque psoriasis were treated with narrow -band UVB. In addition, topical tazarotene 0.05% was applied once daily to one side of the body. The follow-up period was 4 weeks. Efficacy was assess ed separately for both body halves by means of a modified Psoriasis Area an d Severity Index (PASI). Results: Both treatment modalities notably reduced the PASI scores with val ues being significantly lower in skin areas treated with narrow-band UVB ph ototherapy in combination with topical tazarotene. Conclusion: The addition of tazarotene to narrow-band UVB phototherapy prom otes more effective, faster clearing of psoriasis compared with UVB (311 nm ) monotherapy.