Objective: The aim of this study was to test the effectiveness of photodynamic therapy (PDT) in treating pseudoepitheliomatous hyperplasia (PEH) after skin wounding.
Background data: PEH is a difficult-to-treat extreme-degree acanthosis characterized by proliferation of the epithelium. Topical PDT offers an effective and non-invasive treatment for intraepithelial neoplasia and inflammatory dermatosis. These disorders and PEH show the same histological features: epidermal hyperplasia. To our knowledge, there have been no clinical trials published about therapeutic responses of PDT for PEH.
Materials and methods: After application of 10-30% methyl aminolaevulinate (MAL) emulsion, each lesion was irradiated with 633-nm red light at a total dose of 113-339 J/cm(2). Therapeutic response was assessed by clinical examination at 3 months.
Results: Only 4 of 16 lesions clinically showed a minimal response. No response was observed in 12 of the 16 lesions, either with different cumulative doses or different concentrations of MAL.
Conclusion: PEH after skin wounding responds poorly to the topical MAL-PDT. Besides removal of underlying diseases, surgical excision is still the recommended first option.