I recently received a phone call from a man whose daughter has Morphea so I decided to do some hunting to learn a little more about the disease and I came across several articles. I chose to publish part of one of the articles I found here.
Medium-dose UVA1 phototherapy in localized scleroderma and its effect in CD34-positive dendritic cells.
Camacho NR, Sánchez JE, Martin RF, González JR, Sánchez JL.Department of Dermatology, School of Medicine, University of Puerto Rico, San Juan, Puerto Rico 00936-5067
BACKGROUND: UVA1 radiation seems to be effective in morphea. CD34+ dendritic cells are significantly decreased in lesional skin of morphea patients.
OBJECTIVE: We evaluated the therapeutic effectiveness of medium-dose UVA1 phototherapy in localized scleroderma and its effect in the number of dermal CD34+ dendritic cells in skin biopsy specimens of these patients.
METHOD: Patients were irradiated with UVA1 (30 J/cm(2)) 30 times. Dermal CD34+ dendritic cells were counted before and after therapy.
RESULTS: There was clinical improvement after UVA1 irradiation. Dermal CD34+ dendritic cells significantly increased after UVA1 irradiation.
CONCLUSION: Medium-dose UVA1 therapy is effective in the treatment of localized morphea. Effectiveness is associated with an increase in the number of CD34+ dendritic cells in the dermis.
PUBMED Link: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11606918
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