title: Novel treatment of nail psoriasis using the intense pulsed light: a one-year follow-up study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pulsed dye laser has been used successfully in the treatment of nail psoriasis. Intense pulsed light (IPL) has been used in the treatment of plaque psoriasis using a 550-nm filter.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  To study the efficacy of IPL in the treatment of nail psoriasis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty patients with finger and toe nail psoriasis were treated by IPL. Sessions were performed every 2 weeks for a maximum of 6 months. The Nail Psoriasis Severity Index (NAPSI) score was calculated at baseline and 1 month after the last treatment session. Follow-up was performed at 1, 6, and 12 months.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Patients received a mean of 8.63 ± 3.6 IPL sessions. After treatment, there was significant improvement in the nail bed and matrix (p < .0001), and in the NAPSI (p < .0001). Nail bed showed improvement by 71.2%, whereas the nail matrix improvement was only 32.2%. The total NAPSI was 82.4%. Patient follow-up revealed relapse in 3 patients after 6 months.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Intense pulsed light is a promising effective modality of treatment of nail psoriasis, which is easy to use, safe, and provide a long period of remission. This was confirmed by the elicited clinical improvement, NAPSI, and patient satisfaction.
authors.affiliation: Dermatology Unit, Department of Medical Applications of Lasers, National Institute of Laser Enhanced Sciences, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt.
authors.forename: Abeer Attia
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Tawfik
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D062325:Intense Pulsed Light Therapy; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009260:Nail Diseases / Q000628:therapy*; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011565:Psoriasis / Q000628:therapy*; D012008:Recurrence; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016896:Treatment Outcome; D055815:Young Adult