Phototherapy Treatment

The Penn Dermatology Phototherapy Treatment Center offers state-of-the-art treatment for chronic  or complex skin disorders, such as psoriasis, atopic dermatitis, vitiligo, cutaneous T-cell lymphoma or graft-versus-host disease and other  light-responsive skin disorders.

Penn Phototherapy Treatment for Skin Disorders

The Phototherapy Treatment Center, which proides services at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and Penn Medicine Radnor, offers patients a broad range of ultraviolet light services and individual treatment programs, education and counseling.

The center’s broad range of therapies includes:

• Excimer laser treatments — can be highly effective for patients with psoriasis and vitiligo. Non-involved skin is spared, thereby protecting the normal skin. The focused nature of these treatments allows for clearance to be achieved in a shortened period of time.
• Narrowband ultraviolet light B (UVB) therapy — used to treat psoriasis and other light- responsive diseases. Narrowband UVB therapy treatments are administered in upright booths lined with special fluorescent light bulbs.
• Photopheresis — a process used to treat diseases such as cutaneous t-cell lymphoma and graft-versus-host disease which extracts and separates a patient’s white blood cells from the blood and exposes the cells to ultraviolet light and a photoactive drug. The modified white blood cells are returned to the body to potentially stimulate a positive therapeutic response.
• Psoriasis Day Care Center — one of only a few centers in the United States that offers comprehensive and intensive treatment for advanced psoriasis. Patients receive customized and individualized attention at the center to achieve the best possible outcomes.
• PUVA or psoralen and ultraviolet A light therapy — a therapy administered either topically or orally to treat psoriasis or other light-responsive disorders. Patients receive treatment of the entire body in either an upright booth or to specific, isolated areas of the body such as hands or feet.
• Scalp treatments — skin problems on the scalp may be especially troublesome and difficult for patients. Penn Dermatology provides excellent patient education in combination with directed therapies for scalp conditions.