Photochemotherapy of psoriasis. Clinical study of clearing and long-term maintenance treatment.

PUVA therapy was administered to 140 patients with psoriasis. The results of clearing and long-term maintenance treatment are reported. Clearing requirements were in general similar to those reported by Melski and co-workers. The skin of a majority of the patients (79%) could be kept in a good condition by a maintenance-treatment schedule of once every 2 weeks or less. This result is better than the results reported by other authors. Extra topical treatment for residual lesions during maintenance consisted of small amounts of corticosteroids. The maximum length of the treatment intervals during maintenance showed definite individual variations. Patients who required one treatment a week or more to keep the skin cleared were dropped from the study.