Treatment of small plaque parapsoriasis with narrow-band (311 nm) ultraviolet B: a retrospective study

Summary Narrow band (311 nm) ultraviolet B (NB‐UVB) has been shown to be a safe and effective treatment for psoriasis and other inflammatory skin diseases. We have therefore employed NB‐UVB in the treatment of small plaque parapsoriasis (SPP) since 1996. All patients (16/16) responded with complete remission of the disease after a mean number of 32.8 exposures and a mean total dose of 35.4 J/cm2. Unwanted side‐effects were rare (3.3%) and always mild. Relapse of the disease occurred after an average of 29 weeks in those patients who came for follow‐up visits. Therefore, NB‐UVB is an effective, comparably safe and convenient alternative to psoralen and ultraviolet A therapy or other treatment modalities in the suppression of SPP.