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Observational Study
. 2020 Mar 18;100(6):adv00089.
doi: 10.2340/00015555-3453.

Adverse Events Leading to Discontinuation of Phototherapy: An Observational Study

Isabel Belinchón  1 , María J Sánchez-Pujol, Alejandro Docampo, Laura Cuesta, Luca Schneller-Pavelescu, Jose M Ramos-Rincón
Affiliations
Observational Study

Adverse Events Leading to Discontinuation of Phototherapy: An Observational Study

Isabel Belinchón et al. Acta Derm Venereol. .

Abstract

The aim of this prospective study in a phototherapy unit was to describe adverse events (AEs) associated with discontinuation of phototherapy in a clinical setting. A total of 872 included patients received 1,256 courses of phototherapy treatment: 76.9% narrow-band UVB (NBUVB); 9.6% systemic psoralen plus UVA (PUVA); 11.4% topical PUVA; and 2.1% UVA. Approximately a fifth of the treatments (n = 240, 19.1%) were associated with AEs, the most frequent of which was erythema (8.8%). Systemic PUVA had the highest rate of AEs (32.5%). Mycosis fungoides was the dermatosis with the highest rate of AE (36.9%). A total of 216 (17.2%) patients stopped treatment: 23.6% because of AEs (4.1% of all treatments). Treatment suspension due to AEs was associated with PUVA, both topical and systemic (p < 0.001), and diagnoses of mycosis fungoides (p <0.001), palmoplantar psoriasis (p = 0.002), hand eczema (p = 0.002) and pityriasis lichenoides (p = 0.01). In conclusion, one in every 5 patients receiving phototherapy had an AE, but few stopped treatment for this reason.

Keywords: adverse events; discontinuation; narrow-band UVB; psoralen plus UVA; phototherapy.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflicts of interest. IB acted as a consultant and/or speaker for and/or participated in clinical trials sponsored by companies that manufacture drugs used for the treatment of psoriasis, including Janssen Pharmaceuticals Inc., Almirall SA, Lilly, AbbVie, Novartis, Celgene, Biogen Amgen, Leo-Pharma, Pfizer-Wyeth, UCB, and MSD.

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