Photobiology Unit, Department of Dermatology, A. Sygros Hospital,
University of Athens, GR

Photoprovocation tests
A total of 24 patients, 8 men and 16 women, were UVA provocated and are currently UVB provocated. The patients are aged between 19 and 69, and the majority have skin phototype III. From the diagnostic and severity forms it is concluded that most of the patients exhibited PLE for the first time between 20 and 30 years old. The areas where PLE is exhibited are mainly the upper extremities and face, followed by the lower extremities, neck and trunk. The majority of patients stated that they exhibit PLE when exposed to the sun for less than 24 hours.

For the UVA provocation test, a Waldmann UVA bank with Philips CLEO Performance 40W lamps are used. The flexor forearm (right hand) is irradiated at a total dose of 20 J/cm2, for three consecutive days. For the UVB provocation tests, a Waldmann UVB bank with Philips UVB TL12/20W lamps is used. The flexor forearm (left hand) was irradiated at 1 MED, for three consecutive days.

In the following figure are presented the results of the UVA photoprovocation tests. It is shown that 12% were provoked after the first session, 25% after the second session, 42% after the third session and 21% were non-provoked after three sessions. The type of lesions was papules in all cases and erythema in 3 cases.

Questionnaires
All questionnaires are translated to greek. The severity forms are filled for all patients. The Quality of Life questionnaires are sent to 50 patients every season (four times a year). Questionnaires for the epidemiological study are filled and all data are entered to an Excel table, targeting to 1000 subjects.

Other studies
Suction blisters were raised to five patients and one healthy volunteer, for the cytokine study. Blood samples are collected from patients and healthy volunteers for genetic studies.