Papers of the Week

Scalp psoriasis is usually refractory to treatment. Excimer devices have been proved to be a promising therapeutic option in psoriasis. Greater efficacy of phototherapy can be achieved by concurrent use of coal tar derivatives. We aimed to compare efficacy and safety between 308-nm excimer lamp monotherapy and a combination of 308-nm excimer lamp and 10% liquor carbonis detergens in the treatment of scalp psoriasis. In this randomized, evaluator-blinded, prospective, comparative study, 30 patients with scalp psoriasis received either 308-nm excimer lamp monotherapy or a combination of 308-nm excimer lamp and 10% liquor carbonis detergens twice per week until complete remission of the scalp or for a total of 30 sessions. Efficacy was evaluated by the improvement of Psoriasis Scalp Severity Index (PSSI) score, itch score, and Scalpdex score. Both treatments induced significant improvement in PSSI score with greater reduction observed in the combination group. At 30th visit, a 75% reduction in PSSI (PSSI75) was attained by 4 (28.6%) and 9 (69.2%) patients treated with monotherapy and combination therapy, respectively ( < 0.05). Excimer lamp is well-tolerated in patients with scalp psoriasis and liquor carbonis detergens can be used as a combination therapy to improve the efficacy of excimer lamp.