Pseudoepitheliomatous hyperplasia treated by photodynamic therapy with variable irradiation dose and concentration of photosensitizer.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of this study was to test the effectiveness of photodynamic therapy (PDT) in treating pseudoepitheliomatous hyperplasia (PEH) after skin wounding.


BACKGROUND
PEH is a difficult-to-treat extreme-degree acanthosis characterized by proliferation of the epithelium. Topical PDT offers an effective and non-invasive treatment for intraepithelial neoplasia and inflammatory dermatosis. These disorders and PEH show the same histological features: epidermal hyperplasia. To our knowledge, there have been no clinical trials published about therapeutic responses of PDT for PEH.


METHODS
After application of 10-30% methyl aminolaevulinate (MAL) emulsion, each lesion was irradiated with 633-nm red light at a total dose of 113-339 J/cm(2). Therapeutic response was assessed by clinical examination at 3 months.


RESULTS
Only 4 of 16 lesions clinically showed a minimal response. No response was observed in 12 of the 16 lesions, either with different cumulative doses or different concentrations of MAL.


CONCLUSIONS
PEH after skin wounding responds poorly to the topical MAL-PDT. Besides removal of underlying diseases, surgical excision is still the recommended first option.
Department of Dermatology, Xijing Hospital, Fourth Military Medical University, Xi'an, China. qiangli@fmmu.edu.cn
Qiang
Q
Li
Bin
B
Jiao
Heather Ann
HA
Long
D000328:Adult; D000622:Aminolevulinic Acid / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000031:analogs & derivatives*; D004817:Epidermis / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D006965:Hyperplasia; D008875:Middle Aged; D010778:Photochemotherapy / Q000379:methods; D017319:Photosensitizing Agents / Q000008:administration & dosage*; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy*
D017319:Photosensitizing Agents; C475457:methyl 5-aminolevulinate; D000622:Aminolevulinic Acid