title: Correlating skin phototype and minimum erythema dose in Arab skin.
abstract: Skin typing, as proposed by Fitzpatrick, has been used for estimating the initial dose in phototherapy.1 However, several reports have questioned the reliability of the method.2-4 It has been suggested that skin typing should not be the sole basis for starting UV-B phototherapy, and that determining the minimum erythema dose (MED) is a more reliable method of estimating the UV-B dosage.5 There is little published data with respect to skin types and MED values in Arab skin. In this review, we present our experience on the subject with Bahraini patients.
authors.affiliation: Salmaniya Hospital, Manama, State of Bahrain. venkatm@batelco.com.bh
authors.forename: M N
authors.initials: MN
authors.lastname: Venkataram
authors.forename: Al Amiri
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Haitham
mesh_terms: D018912:Arabs; D004890:Erythema / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D011829:Radiation Dosage; D012867:Skin / Q000473:pathology / Q000528:radiation effects*; D014466:Ultraviolet Rays; D014467:Ultraviolet Therapy