Narrowband UVB phototherapy in children: A New Zealand experience

Background: Phototherapy is effective for many dermatoses in adults, but there is a paucity of data for its use in children. Objectives: To review the efficacy and tolerability of narrowband UVB phototherapy in children at a tertiary centre in New Zealand, and determine if there were any factors that differentiated responders from non-responders. Methods: A prospective analysis of children (<16 years old) who had undergone phototherapy over a 15-year period. Results: 116 children received phototherapy with a total of 144 courses. Mean age was 11.0 years with the majority being European and having skin phototype II. Atopic dermatitis was the most common indication for treatment followed by psoriasis, pityriasis lichenoides, nodular prurigo, morphea, vitiligo, urticaria pigmentosa and erythropoietic porphyria. Treatment was effective in the majority of children (72%). Most received only one course. For responders, the mean number of treatments was 32.4. The mean dose per treatment to achieve clearance was 886 mJ/cm(2) and the mean maximum treatment dose per treatment was 1328 mJ/cm(2). All children tolerated treatment well with 36% developing brief, minimally symptomatic, erythema. Only two children experienced exacerbations of their underlying dermatoses. Conclusions: This study shows that phototherapy is an effective and well-tolerated treatment modality in children.