118 Efficacy of narrow-band UVB in the treatment of alopecia areata

*Chantal Bolduc, **Lori Hobbs, **Jerry Shapiro, **David McLean, ** Harvey Lui *University of Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, **University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia

Alopecia areata has been shown to be responsive to systemic PUVA therapy, presumably via its immunomodulatory effects. NB-UVB has previously been demonstrated to be effective for a number of other PUVA-responsive disorders including psoriasis, parapsoriasis and vitiligo. The aim of this pilot study was to determine the efficacy of narrow-band UVB (NB-UVB) light therapy for extensive alopecia areata. This was a bilateral left-right controlled study where only half of the scalp was exposed to NB-UVB while the other half of the scalp and the rest of the body were covered with protective garments. This study involved patients with extensive alopecia areata (>40%) who underwent thrice weekly NB-UVB treatments over six months. The initial NB-UVB treatment dose was 70% of the MED as determined by baseline phototesting. Successive treatment fluences were gradually increased by 10% as tolerated. Hair loss was graded semiquantitatively and photographs are taken at baseline and again every 4 weeks throughout the study. Seven patients have been enrolled in this pilot study. Two patients showed regrowth on the treated side only. One patient showed regrowth on the treated side initially, but subsequently showed regrowth on both treated and non-treated sides. The other four patients did not experience regrowh, but these patients had long-standing alopecia. Treatment has been well-tolerated and no patient experienced any phototoxicity. Our results did not reach statistical significance, and this may be related to the study sample size. Nevertheless based on our initial results to date as well as the tolerability of the treatment, additional studies appear to be justified.