Miscellaneous indications for extracorporeal photochemotherapy (ECP)

Abstract

Extracorporeal photochemotherapy (ECP) has been applied to many T-cell mediated diseases where immunosuppressive drugs are insufficient or not tolerated. As ECP is mainly used in rare indications after failure of other therapies, controlled studies are hardly possible. In addition, the importance of the extracorporeal circuit imposes ethical doubts in organising sham ECP procedure, which explains the rarity of controlled double-blind studies. However, encouraging and even successful results have been reported in newly developed diabetes mellitus, erosive lichen planus, Crohn's disease, systemic sclerosis, nephrogenic fibrosing dermopathy, atopic dermatitis, rheumatoid arthritis, systemic lupus erythematodes, psoriasis arthritis, cutaneous mucinosis, scleromyxoedema, pemphigus vulgaris, multiple sclerosis, eosinophilic fasciitis and in the prevention of percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA) restenosis. This article discusses the various levels of evidence in the above cited indications.

Keywords: Autoimmune disease; ECP; Extracorporeal photochemotherapy; Photopheresis.