Extended extracorporeal photochemotherapy with extracorporeal administration of 8-methoxypsoralen in systemic sclerosis. An Austrian single-center study

Background: Extracorporeal photochemotherapy (EXP) is an immunomodulating t herapy that has been used in a limited number of patients with systemic scl erosis (SSC) with controversial results. The present study was performed to evaluate the efficacy and safety of extended EXP with extracorporeal appli cation of liquid 8-methoxypsoralen (8-MOP) in the treatment of SSC, Methods : Eleven women with progressive SSC of recent onset mere treated for a peri od of 16-57 months. Skin. changes, physical performance, extracutaneous man ifestations, and quality of life mere evaluated before initiation of EXP an d at regular intervals thereafter. Results: From the start to the last set of EXP, we observed an overall, improvement and/or stabilization of skin ch anges and physical performance in 5 of 11 patients (45%). Extracutaneous ma nifestations deteriorated in 10 of 11 patients (91%) (P<0.05), and quality of life deteriorated in 9 of 11 patients (82%) from a mean score of 10 befo re, to 17 at the last set of EXP (P<0.05). No major side effects mere noted . Conclusion: Extended EXP with extracorporeal administration of 8-MOP is a safe and well tolerated treatment modality. However, it provides only (min or) improvement of shin changes of a subset of SSC patients and does not be neficially influence extracutaneous manifestations and quality of life.