Title: Efficacy of targeted narrowband ultraviolet B therapy in vitiligo: a prospective study
Abstract: Background: Vitiligo is an acquired disorder of skin pigmentation that is associated with tremendous psychological impact on the affected patients. Narrow-band ultraviolet B (NBUVB) is an emerging, effective and safe therapy for vitiligo. The objective of the study was to know the effi cacy and safety of NBUVB therapy in 31 vitiligo patients of various age groups.Methods: This was a prospective and non-randomised study carried out in GMERS Medical College, Gandhinagar, Gujarat during the period of 1st January 2011 to 30th June, 2014. This study was conducted in 31 patients of “stable” vitiligo involving less than 5% body surface area (BSA) after taking verbal and written consent of the patients. Study was done on OPD bases by giving targeted NB UVB lamp to various age groups of vitiligo patients along with topical momentasone cream at various stage of disease. This all patients were followed up at monthly interval. The repigmentation response was correlated with the duration of the disease, site of the involved lesion and age of the patient. Chisquare test was used for assessing the statistical significance of the results obtained and a p < 0.05 was considered as “statistically significant.”Results: Most of the patients (29 /31) enrolled for the study was suffering from “vitiligo vulgaris” and only 2 patients had segmental/focal type of vitiligo in the study group. Duration of vitiligo ranged from 1 year to 16 years with a mean of 4.19 years. The age of the enrolled patients ranged from 13 years to 48 years with a mean of 26.5 years. Complete repigmentation was achieved in 10 patients while 14 patients showed moderate to good improvement. Out of 23 lesions on face and neck, 12 (52.1%) showed 90-100% repigmentation. Out of 18 lesions on trunk, 8 (44.4%) showed 90-100% repigmentation. Out of 14 lesions upper limb, 7 (50%) lesions showed 90-100% repigmentation.Conclusions: NBUVB therapy is an effective and safe modality to treat vitiligo of all age groups with cosmetically acceptable repigmentation. Age of the patients or duration of vitiligo was seen to have minimal effect on the repigmentation response.