Outpatient phototherapy of psoriasis.

Twenty-six outpatients with chronic plaque-type psoriasis vulgaris were treated five times weekly with topically applied white petrolatum and subsequent exposure to erythemogenic doses of ultraviolet radiation from fluorescent bulbs with a wavelength of 280 to 400 nm. All patients were cleared of psoriasis in ultraviolet-exposed sites in an average of 27 treatments. The combination of topically applied white petrolatum and ultraviolet radiation provides a convenient, cosmetically acceptable outpatient therapy for psoriasis.