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Article
March 1976

Factors Influencing Methoxsalen Phototoxicity in Vitiliginous Skin

Author Affiliations

From the Department of Dermatology, Freedmen's Hospital, Washington, DC (Dr Arora), and the Department of Dermatology, Atlanta Veterans Administration Hospital, and the Department of Medicine (Dermatology), Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta (Dr Willis).

Arch Dermatol. 1976;112(3):327-332. doi:10.1001/archderm.1976.01630270007002
Abstract

• A series of experiments were conducted to determine the optimum conditions required to induce methoxsalen phototoxicity in vitiliginous skin. The results revealed that optimum phototoxicity could be obtained only when a lapse of at least 15 minutes was allowed between the application of the drug and exposure to long-wave ultraviolet light (UVA). The duration of methoxsalen's phototoxic potentiality, after its application to skin, varied in direct proportion to chemical concentration. Although a high chemical concentration and low dosage of UVA was a less time-consuming method of inducing phototoxicity, our results indicate that lower concentration and longer UVA exposure were less likely to induce undesirable blistering reactions.

(Arch Dermatol 112:327-332, 1976)

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