Complications
Complication
Timeframe
Likelihood
short term
high
Caution and monitoring for patients with high blood pressure and diabetes mellitus is advised.
long term
high
The risk of development of skin cancers, such as basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas, rises with the amount of photodamage due to repeated therapies both after UV-A and UV-B treatments and even more so after psoralen and ultraviolet A (PUVA) treatment.
Skin cancers require several years after starting phototherapy to develop; thus, patients need to be monitored regularly (at least once a year).
long term
low
Skin atrophy may occur after long-term use, especially of more potent corticosteroids. The risk is low in PLE as topical treatment is usually only required for a few days.
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