A LEFT-RIGHT COMPARISON OF UVB PHOTOTHERAPY AND TOPICAL PHOTOCHEMOTHERAPY IN BILATERAL CHRONIC HAND DERMATITIS AFTER 6 WEEKS TREATMENT

We have compared the efficacy of local UVB phototherapy with topical ( bath) photochemotherapy in 13 patients with bilateral chronic hand der matitis. In each patient, one hand was treated with UVB phototherapy a nd the other hand with topical (bath) photochemotherapy. Both treatmen ts moderately improved the chronic hand dermatitis after 6 weeks' trea tment. We observed no significant differences in improvement between t he modalities, but side-effects occurred more often on the photochemot herapy-treated side. Considering the similar responses and relative in cidence of side-effects, we would advise starting treatment with UVB p hototherapy and only using topical photochemotherapy if this fails.